Quick report
Light wind on the approach, below treeline, good snow for skinning, broken clouds during sunrise. Temps in the 30s all day. Just below treeline, after sunrise, the snow became like concrete under our skis, light winds. Above treeline, around 0900, winds were moderate with severe gusts, coming mostly from the E/NE, full sun. Saw no evidence of wind loading in the couloir. The snow in the couloir itself was variable, with some hardpack and mostly unconsolidated facets on top of a crust more than a foot below the surface. Wind was light in the couloir with strong gusts coming from the West, but spindrift didn't accumulate much. At the entrance of the couloir, a hand/shear test took moderate effort to fail about a foot below the surface and was resistant planar. The climbing was tricky to find the hardpacked snow in the sea of facets. Another couple hundred feet above that, another hand/shear test took minimal effort to fail around the same depth but was nonplanar and irregular. Transitioned roughly 500' from the summit. Riding was slow, waiting for slough to settle every few turns, so as not to get swept off your feet. Below the couloir the riding was excellent with some warm pow. We were able to ride all the way back to the trailhead, although once in treeline, the snow off of the skintrack was extremely sticky.