Snow, wind, and poor viz at Blue Lakes

1.5ft of recent snow observed in wind sheltered areas around Blue Lakes Rd today. Winds were moving significant amounts of new snow, making visibility difficult in any open areas. We avoided wind loaded terrain as much for visibility purposes as for avalanche avoidance. Multiple test slopes in wind sheltered areas did not produce cracking. Below the new snow, I found a light crust with facets under it in areas without previous tracks. With soft, unconsolidated snow above the facets in the locations we traveled today, we did not observe a slab above this potential weak layer, and ECTs only partially propagated on it. I did not test this layer in wind loaded terrain today.