Mt. Ellis

Beautiful day on Ellis with the classic Ellis snow pack, i.e., shallow, depth hoar, no supporting base.  Snow pit at top of the burn, 85 cm depth.  Depth hoar at ground up to 10-15 cm, smaller grain size above.  ECTX.  The column under the shovel blade failed completely at 25 hits in compression, no shear plane.  We experienced no signs of snow instability.  Skied one run down the burn being light on skis, then skied out via our super secret exit route in the trees where the skiing was not any better until lower on the mountain.  Moonshine trail was super fast with the added obstacle of people HIKING up (another attribute of the New Bozeman). 

Question for Ian.  For your recent post from Ellis did you ascend/descend via saddle between Big and Little Ellis?  Just curious.