wind effects on Waterhouse Peak

On my way up Waterhouse Peak this afternoon, I did not observe any significant storm slab instabilities - only minimal slab behavior when stepping above the skin track on short steep slopes. There was a widespread surface crust, 1-2cm thick, throughout the climb, interspersed occasionally with pockets of softer snow. Winds were light at lower elevations. I noticed many minor settlement cracks around trees (photo 1). 

Winds and wind effects were significantly greater above 9000', in more open terrain (photo 2). Winds were strong and while it was difficult to discern direction, they seemed mostly out of the south along the summit ridgeline. Ski cutting a wind-loaded test slope near the summit did not produce any results, but I observed clean, planar hand shears and cracking (photo 3) when stepping on undercut snow on said test slope, both breaking a slab about 25cm thick.