Persistent layer and wind lip fracture on chickadee ridge

We toured up low angle north facing terrain  on chickadee ridge looking for the persistent layer and some mellow turns. North facing snow was still soft and skied well. Wind lips were prevalent near the top of the ridge and we were able to get a fracture on the first stomp with a ski (see photo). A quick pit (8700 ft elevation,north facing) revealed the presence of the persistent problem around the Jan 4th rain layer.