We toured up to 7600 feet, traveled on North and West aspects in sheltered terrain near Essex. We found 1-2 feet of low density snow on top of slick crusts and firm layers, which made skinning challenging, but riding fantastic. Temperatures hovered in the teens, which felt balmy compared to the last few days.
In hand pits and on tests slopes, we found a good sliding surface and weak layers, but no slab on top. A few small wind slabs cracked underfoot on a windy ridge. Visibility was limited but no other signs of instabilities were observed. We felt comfortable skiing 35 degree slopes one at a time.
