Shallow Wind Slabs on Tamarack Peak

It was snowing when we got to the Tamarack parking lot. Low clouds hung in the sky and created flat light. Probing in sheltered terrain revealed a right-side-up snowpack with lighter snow on top of more dense snow. We did not see any instabilities in areas protected from the winds. When the clouds parted, we could see cornices along the East Ridge, but we did not see any signs of avalanche activity. 

The wind-exposed areas along the ridge held cornices and wind-created surface textures. Some of the cornices had grown quite large and overhanging. We stayed far from the edges of the cornices. We found some small wind-loaded test slopes and dropped small cornice pieces on them, kicked them with our skis, and ski cut them. Two ski cuts triggered 3-6 inch deep, soft wind slabs. They both occurred on open slopes in near-treeline terrain: one on a NE-facing slope and one on an E-facing slope. It looked like they involved the new snow that had fallen since last night. We also triggered another similar very small (D1) avalanche on a larger E-facing slope. The slope cracked in a less steep spot (32 degrees) under my skis. Then the small 4-inch deep avalanche slid on a steeper part of the slope (38-degree rollover) about 20 ft away from my ski tracks. It only slid about 15 to 20 feet to the bottom of the rollover and did not involve enough snow to have any consequences for a person. In all of these cases, the "slab" was very soft and broke apart as soon as it failed.

The weather grew calmer during our tour. The clouds lifted some. The snowfall tapered off, and the winds decreased significantly.