Swiss Couloir

Great day skiing the Swiss Couloir. On the uptrack, we observed minor wind-effect on the snow. A temperature inversion was present with bluebird weather above the clouds. Solar slopes did warm up a bit over the course of the day, forming soft slabs at TL and ALP - we avoided descending through Lone Pine Lite for that very reason. The glacier had an HS between 230cm and 310cm with skis penetrating 15-20cm below the snow surface. The upper 10cm of snow was getting denser, cracking locally around our skis, by the time we reached the exit of Swiss Couloir. We dug a test profile just below the exit (CTE SP on top 10cm of snow, but no cohesion or propagation), no crust present due to high elevation. Very small dry loose avalanches were coming off nearby rocky faces. On the descent, we encountered only minor sluffing. Good powder to be found at all elevations. Dec1 MFcr was felt below 1600m. Open creeks in the Hermit Path, beware!