Blizzard Conditions on Silver Peak

We went up Pole Creek to look at snow conditions in an area that we are very familiar with and knew we could avoid being near or below any avalanche terrain.  Trail breaking conditions were very deep and time consuming.  In open areas below treeline, blowing snow was widespread and as we moved above 7000' and closer to near treeline terrain, zero visibility existed most of the time due to blowing snow.  We had thought that we would be able to get some views of the avalanche terrain higher up on Silver Peak, but continued snow and gale force winds made visibility very limited.  We experienced some cracking while skinning within the storm slab, but mostly these cracks were localized and did not propagate.