NE winds and Soft Snow on Elephants Hump

Driving down to Carson Pass in the morning I could see copious amounts of snow blowing off the ridgelines along the Sierra Crest and in the Carson Range. The trees at the lower elevations still held snow so it looked like those areas were more sheltered from the NE winds. Once I arrived at Carson Pass, I could see plumes of blowing snow on all of the peaks including Red Lake Peak (photo 3), Stevens Peak, Elephant's Back, and Round Top. I could also see large cornices along many of those ridgelines.

Touring up on the more sheltered terrain of Elephant's Hump I found soft snow on the northerly aspects and sun crusts with a dusting of softer snow on the southerly aspects. I did not see signs of loose wet instabilities on the southerly aspects. I poked and probed in several areas in sheltered below treeline terrain. I did some quick ski cuts on test slopes and some quick snowpit tests. I did not find any signs of instability on the sheltered slopes. 

Once I gained the ridge, wind affected snow existed on all aspects. I found a mix of exposed crusts, old firm wind slabs, sastrugi, and wind scoured surfaces (photos 1 & 2). I found a small NE facing test slope and my ski cut on said slope did not produce results. I also dug a quick snowpit and my tests did not produce unstable results (ECTN photo 5). I was testing one of the older wind slabs on this aspect. I did not find a good area to test the newer wind slabs created by the NE winds. By the afternoon the winds seemed to calm down some in this area, but they were still moving snow along the ridges of the higher peaks.

I picked my way back down the variable snow conditions on the exposed ridge and retreated into sheltered terrain where the snow was consistent and soft for the descent.