Quick report
We arrived in Valdez from Utah last night and went out to assess conditions. We observed settled/damp powder on the ascent in the trees. Once above the trees, the open/ridge slope that we traveled to the bowl between Embick and Comstock was wind board, exposed rain crust, sastrugi, and sometimes wind blown powder. Pit @ 2700' N, ECTN, 1cm rain crust ~1m down, below this elevation the rain crust was stout. Pit @ 3200' N, ECTN, no weakness/layers of note. Continued into the Comstock Couloir and noted a change to 6-8" hollow wind slab that was unreactive but when isolated came out with a clean shear. That plus the uninspiring conditions helped us decide to returned to the car. Expect wind slabs continue trending towards wind damage and becoming more difficult to trigger. Out of the wind, assuming that exists, our N facing pits at 2700' and 3200' showed good structure.
Avalanche
Two small wind pockets R1-D1. One on the left and right side of bowl/cirque between Comstock and Embick leeward (west) of wind scoured ridges. These both looked several days old.