Gilpatricks North

I skied a few runs in the alders on the lower part of Gilpatricks North. I noticed several recent avalanches that had failed in steep wind loaded terrain on adjacent mountains, so I was pretty careful to avoid any slopes with stiff snow on the surface. I dug several hand pits as I hiked, and consistently found around 18" of faceted snow on the ground. This setup is a concern wherever wind slabs are forming on top. 

I dug several quick hand pits as I traveled. The snowpack is straightforward but not confidence-inspiring right now. There is about 18" faceted snow on the ground on slopes that are sheltered from the wind. On wind exposed slopes, there is quite a bit of scouring along ridgelines and loading in the gullies. That setup where wind slabs are forming on top of the faceted snowpack is an issue to pay very close attention to. There was a fresh layer of surface hoar close to the highway, but this was hard to find once I got more than a few hundred feet above the highway.

I took the time to get layer info and do a couple tests in one pit at 2200' on an east aspect. I didn't get any unstable results (ECTN15), but that would likely be a very different story if I had dug on a slope with a wind slab on top of all these facets. See attached snowpit profile for detailed snowpack info.