4" (3" overnight) of new snow since 12/11 hasn't had much impact on snow stability in this area. Snow below recent snowfall remains extremely faceted at all elevations on shady slopes. Observed fresh wind drifts up to a foot thick, but they were very small/isolated. New and old faceted snow remains sluffy on slopes nearing 40*.
Evidence of past and current E to NE wind at ridge level. 7-8cm of new snow since yesterday afternoon.
Recreational tour with limited formal observations. Probing at 8600' on a NE aspect revealed HS of 110cm with obvious basal weak layer down around 90cm. Wind drifts to 30cm thick observed at ridge level, but they were very small in spatial extent and not much of a concern. New snow and old faceted surface remains prone to sluffing on terrain approaching 40*, but feel you would need to be in confined terrain for this to be much of an issue. Due S open slopes with any pitch were ski supportable.
Felt comfortable skiing steep (~40*) but smaller terrain features where any sluffing would be manageable. Still a bit leery of big, consequential, upper elevation start zones due to the prevalence of basal weak layer in this zone.