South winds, warm temps

From a flat sheltered traverse at 1300m, our party remote triggered a sz 1 slab avalanche in rocky unsupported terrain overhead (east facing). Crown ranged in size from 15-40cm, failing on one or more of the ice crust layers that is prevalent at these lower elevations. The alpine is a different but no less complex story, though did offer overall good skiing on well supported slopes. Above 1600m there is a 180-200cm snowpack overlying firm snow on Cleveland’s NE glacier. We were surprised to find isolated pockets of surface hoar in this alpine zone, buried just 10-15cm near ridgetop under recently re-distributed snow from strong south winds.