Blowing Snow, Buried Surface Hoar, and Small Sluffs on Silver Peak

As we made our way into Silver Peak today, we found about 4 inches of soft, cold, new snow from yesterday. This snow rested on top of a thin crust on sunny aspects. On the slopes facing the northern half of the compass, buried surface hoar (up to 3mm) and older soft snow existed under the new snow. We did notice some minor cracking around our skis as the fresh snow broke away from the buried surface hoar, but the new snow fell apart before these cracks could travel more than a few inches. We triggered a few small sluffs in which 3-4 inches of soft unconsolidated snow slid down steep north-facing test slopes when the buried surface hoar failed.  

Once we gained the ridge and got into more wind-exposed terrain, we saw wind-scoured surfaces, fresh wind-drifted snow, blowing snow, and some small wind slabs. Ski kicks on wind-loaded test slopes produced shooting cracks and small wind slab failures on W-NW aspects. We could also see evidence of changing wind directions in opposing cornices.