Quick Pit and Obs from Poulsen's Peak

We went on a short tour this afternoon to take a look at conditions before a full weekend of guiding. Our ascent was primarily on southern aspects, where coverage was impressive and no signs of instability were observed. As we approached treeline, small sections of the skintrack (set earlier today) were becoming obscured by blowing snow. Near the top of Poulsen's Peak (7,650') we dug a quick snowpit on a NE aspect. This location was certainty wind loaded, with an HS of 220cm.

After digging to the ground, we were unable to find signs of faceted early season snow. The 220cm's of snow presented as 1 layer, but after closer evaluation, we did discover some hardness changes. The basic hardness was as follows: 220-185cm (Fist), 185-140 (4F), 140-135 (F+)*, 135-Ground (1F). 

A quick CT and ECT both failed 60cm's down (at 140cm) on what we suspect is a buried wind slab. CTM13 and ECTP23.

Our descent choice was the west facing side of Poulsen's Peak. The very top was quite scoured by wind, but ~150' down coverage improved dramatically. The upper half was wind affected, and lower half was sun affected, with significant roller ball activity on each turn.