Gail force winds at Powderhouse

On the drive up to Luther Pass just after 2pm, the highway was wet but clear of snow and little snow was on the trees until about the 7000 foot elevation mark. At the 7800 elevation of the pass itself there was some snow on the road and the trees were holding snow. The winds were gail force and moving a ton of snow. Gusts were swirling, but appeared to be coming from the east or northeast most consistently, and were frequently transporting snow up the slope. It appeared as though 4-6 inches of new snow were present, but the wind transport at all elecations made it difficult to find a undisturbed area. Evidence of wind effect on the snow surface was present at the lowest elevations. The snow displayed some slab characteristics (it was a heavy), but resisted cracking even on slightly exposed features that were clearly wind altered. We stopped our tour just before the near and above tree line ridge due to the challening winds and limited visibility. 

Photo 1: This wind feature is notable because it is at the base of Powderhouse only a couple hundred feet from the road and completely in the trees.

Photo 2: Large potentially dangerous tree bombs were widespread. This one is sitting directly on the existing skin track (which is itself largely obscured by wind blown snow). Larger ones were observed as well. 

Photo 3: After kicking on a wind feature over a tree well there was minor slab failure. I saught out multiple similar features and this is the only one that produced results. 

Video: Gail force winds blowing up slope at about 8200 feet on Powderhouse. Other gusts were more impressive, but I wasn't able to capture them.