Quick report
Parked my snow machine at 5,200' to start my tour. The snow was a foot+ deep, all fluffy except for a 1/4" 'skin' on the surface. Although the crust wasn't super hard, I was a bit worried what I might be getting myself into. As I climbed up to the ridge to about 6,600'-6,700' I realized the 'skin' was only on South and West aspects, and, as I climbed it was much thinner and weaker. Whew! No Whoompfing or cracking while climbing. No wind to speak of, partly sunny and temps in mid 20's. In the couple of hasty pits, there was a crust about 8'-13" deep, (buried surface hoar, I would guess) depending on elevation, that scored a CT of 16-18, but didn't seem to have a lot of energy. On sunny aspects some pin wheels started in the afternoon, but the snow stayed nice all day. On the ridge, I noted a few old crown lines across the valley. Cornices on the east faces were minimal. Cornices on the west faces were bigger, but not huge by normal standards. The battle between the Nor-easters and the South-westers this winter looks like a standstill. I skied a couple N, NW aspects down to about 5,000' and the snow was about as good as it gets for April. I will note that come the first warm, sunny day, (this weekend?) there will be lots of snow shedding off the rock bands up high, so climbing (touring) up from below or even traveling below those faces will get sketchy.
Avalanche
Noted a few small crown lines on steep west faces across the valley, probably from Sunday, but not sure.