Yukon Techs in the Alpine

Traverse of Halcyon Peak - several sz 2 avalanches observed on South aspects. Widespread supportive crust becomes more spotty and broken in higher alpine terrain - we will be calling this the Jan 16 Melt Freeze Crust. Above the crust 5cm of new snow skied surprisingly well. Below this crust the upper snowpack is moist. December crusts are evident all the way to ridgeline, but given the supportive upper snowpack they were not our primary concern. However South aspects are starting to fill in; hardslab over depth hoar facets in thin areas caused us to back off.