Tiptoeing into Steeper Terrain

We went back to the Throne today and toured up to the ridge where 9 days ago Dave and I experienced a large collapse prompting us to decend our skin track. During our ascent, we had no signs of instability such as cracking or collapsing but were still cautious while walking through steep terrain. On the north side of the Throne, we found a shallow snowpack, 63 cm, and saw a stability score of ECTX. On the south side, we found a slightly deeper snowpack and again saw a score of ECTX in the snowpit. 

We felt good about going into this terrain for a couple of reasons. First, this area has had only a few reports of recent activity activity. Second, there was a clean runout below and the slope was barely over 30 degrees in steepness. All of this in addition to seeing no signs of instability and our stable test scores made us feel comfortable skiing from the top while taking a conservative approach and skiing one at a time.