Shames Backcountry

Skied a couple of laps adjacent to the Shames resort today. Foot penetration was about 90 cm. Below 1300 metres the snow was unconsolidated. At the top of Second Knoll, the storm snow had been wind affected, and a storm slab was present. We dug a pit at 1000 metres (just below the cat track) on a NW aspect. There was 145 cm on the ground, and the top 55 cm was recent storm snow. We did not get a compression test result at the storm snow/old surface interface, but I was able to pull a column of snow apart at this level. There were hard shears (sudden collapse) down 100 cm on a deteriorating pencil hard crust, and a hard break down 130 cm on a knife hard 5 cm rain crust. There were periods of good visibility that allowed us to see the terrain to the west and north, surprisingly little recent avalanche activity. I was able to get a few settlements below treeline on steep gully sidewalls without any releases.