Lola Ridge / Independence Lake Observations

We toured a variety of aspects today and experienced a variety of snow conditions.  At 10:00am we were on NE aspects near 8,000'.  This terrain still held some cold snow and areas with a ~1.5" melt freeze layer.  Boot penetration was around 5" and ski depth was about 2".  We observed old, D1 wind slab avalanche debris on the E/NE bowl of Lola most likely from Jan 3-4.  We found minimal evidence of near surface faceting on Northern sheltered terrain.  At noon we were in Southernly facing terrain and descended a SE aspect.  Ski penetration averaged ~1-2".  No rollerballs or other signs of instability were observed.