View of West Face, Lower SE Casaval Ridge to 9,200 feet

I toured out of Bunny Flat this afternoon to look at the West Face and to gather some information about this rain crust from Dec 14^th. I was also interested in the effect wind had on the snow pack above treeline. We have recorded 10 hours of wind over 20 mi/hr and gusts as high as 43 mi/hr in the last 48 hours at 8,000 feet. This wind has been out of the west and northwest. This has formed a hard packed wind board on anything exposed above treeline. Below and near treeline snow textures varied with breakable wind crust in open areas with pockets of packed powder above a semi supportable crust in the trees. A ski penetration of 5-10 cm was observed near horse camp. 

Test results showed little signs of instability. See pictures below for more snowpack and pit data from a SE aspect on lower Casaval Ridge at 9,200 feet.