Wolverine Basin

Below treeline, the snowpack is weak and generally lacks a slab except in small, isolated cross-drifts.  We felt comfortable skiing in steep terrain, but had to manage for some gouging sluffs on slopes steeper than 40 degrees.  Once we gained elevation into wind-affected terrain above 11,400', we found more concerns: the old slab (formed in early January on December weak layers) produced a few collapses, and there was avalanche activity on wind-loaded slopes that ran over the weekend, highlighting a more cautious approach to windloaded terrain.    

No signs of instability while breaking trail through wind sheltered, below treeline terrain. We observed several small to medium sized collapses once we ascended to 11,400', on an east facing terrain feature. The collapses appeared to be failing on the December drought layer a couple feet deep. At this location, previous winds (early January) had built a cohesive soft slab that retained just enough cohesion through the January drought to produce collapsing.