Searching for Signs of Lingering Instability on Carpenter

We went to Carpenter ridge today looking for wind slabs on of top facets. While we were climbing up to the ridge, we encountered soft, cold snow from the recent storm on northerly aspects. A firm crust layer existed below the recent snow in tightly treed areas. In more open areas, this recent snow rested on top of smoother and softer old snow surfaces. Sometimes we found facets below the new snow, but the new snow was only 2-4 inches deep and did not have any slab characteristics in the sheltered areas.
 
Once we gained the ridge, we could see evidence of the strong NE winds. They left firm wind scoured surfaces on the N-NE-E aspects and on the ridgeline. We did find some wet snow in sunny areas on the ridge. We also could look at the SE-S-SW aspects of Mt. Lola. Decent snow coverage still exists on some southerly-facing slopes, but others had areas of exposed dirt.

We went over the top of the peak to a NW aspect. The SW and NE wind both cross-load the NW aspects. We found wind deposited snow on these slopes at the mid and upper elevations. We dug numerous hand pits, probed many drifts with our poles, and ski cut several steep test slopes looking for places where wind slabs might rest on top of facets. We did not find any spots with thick wind slabs and facets. In the places where the most wind-blown snow had accumulated, we did not find facets below the wind-blown snow. In the places where we found facets below the new snow, there was little to no wind-loading. 

We climbed back out on W-facing aspects. The sunny spots held wet sticky snow on these aspects. 

Despite looking hard for them, we did not see any signs of wind slab instability during our tour. Nor did we see signs of wet snow instability, but we did not travel on sunny slopes that face the southern half of the compass.