Skied up the SE ridge, dug a pit at 6900' on a wind loaded SE facing slope just below the summit as we were curious to see what the wind loading was doing. I have never seen a less reactive pit. In a compression test and an ECT we couldn't get anything to go just wailing on it after the usual 30 taps. I had to physically reach in and grab the column and rip it out with my hands. Thrilling! The pit was 125 cm deep in a snowpack that reached beyond the depth of the probe. We did see the old crust about 20" down, the persistent weak layer we were discussing as a potential problem. It is the only layer that was identifiable at this location, the rest of the pack is like a solid block of consolidated cement with a few inches of pow on top. Inspired by this confidence we skied off the SE face and then took the exit off the NE face to the lookers right of the main avalanche gully to the Elk Mtn trail. Stomped on some cornices and couldn't get anything to give there either. There are old roller balls under the new snow all the way to the summit and it was obvious that it hasn't been freezing up there until about 6500'.
