ECTP 19 East Face of Ross

We skied up the northeast face/gully on Ross Peak, and dug a pit just under the summit of the east face, just before the slope angle increased to reach the summit. This was the last part of the approach to the Banana couloir. We noticed variable snow depths on the way up, and intermittent wind slabs of about 4 inches deep on the way up. Our pit resulted in an ECTP19. The propagation went the full plane of the column, and broke about 8 inches from the ground on a harder layer with sugary snow above and below it. Other than the harder layer, most of the bottom of the snowpack seemed loose and faceted, with about a foot of powder on top. We ended up turning around before entering the steeper angled terrain.