Quick report
It's January, but it's still early season conditions so we visited a usual haunt for November and December. Skin and ski-quality exceeded our expectations, but coverage below 4k remains pretty limited for this time of year. The snowpack has as much structure as I've seen at Snoqualmie Pass -- it's a great time to dig and learn in the snow. A pit to the ground just above 4400' yielded the following (see images, too). Height of snow ~175cm. Prominent crusts matched NWAC's description. ECTP15, sudden-collapse, and CT19 in the vicinity of the uppermost crust, CT25 at the lower-most crust. An unscientific rutschblock while collapsing the pit failed at an easy kick at the uppermost crust as well. The sun came out several times through the day, and the morning held light winds with moderate gusts that knocked snow from the trees. Thin wind-shells shed the blowing snow easily. We ventured into protected terrain above 5k, finding good, if slightly heavy, skiing as we avoided exposing ourselves to any major open slopes (or skiers) above. We turned around below the ridge-crest, as thin windslab was evident even in forest-clearings. Isolated whumpfs as we crossed a lake. Given the snowpack setup and pit results, I was surprised not to see any slab activity, but there's none to report.
Avalanche
Quite a few prominent loose-dry slides on steeper slopes. Found on every aspect observed at elevations above 4k.