Little Slabby, Little Sluffy

Went to the John Stevens Canyon area hunting wind slabs and sluffs. It wasn't supper windy and it wasn't the most new storm snow, but it was a little slabby and a little sluffy to be sure.

• We found between 6 and 10 inches of new, low density snow sitting on top of old wind slabs, melt freeze crusts, and settled old snow depending on the aspect. We did not find surface hoar or facets at the 2/23 storm interface.
• At middle and upper elevations the new snow sluffed readily on test slopes steeper than 40 degrees. Slopes where I usually test for wind slabs at these elevations did not produce anything but sluffs, though I did get a few small cornices to break off and cause sluffing on the slopes below.
• West winds were light, at best, into the early afternoon. But as the day went on, and as we climbed above 6500 feet, we saw moderate blowing snow from alpine ridges. Light to moderate wind was enough to move the very low density snow onto leeward slopes. Gusts produced occasional snow banners from nearby peaks. On our descent we saw blowing snow on favored middle elevation slopes, but it hadn't been moving snow for very long and we couldn't find more than a thin wind skin on the surface.
• Cornices and wind slabs were reactive on alpine test slopes. These were small - slabs 2-10 inches and cornices up to 2 feet thick, but they cracked with very little effort. Slabs were soft and broke on even softer storm snow below. 
• We avoided slopes under corniced ridgelines and very steep, confined gullies where we wouldn't be able to manage our sluffs. With those caveats, the new snow skied great until we got to lower elevations where it was just becoming moist on south-facing slopes by 2:30.