Just a quick walk in Stump Hollow with the dog on my day off.

Had a look at the still fairly shallow mid-elevation snowpack in a small meadow surrounded by the forest. It is no real surprise that I found well developed sugary or faceted snow near the ground. The good news is that it's not a very thick layer, and its very low in the snowpack, the slab on top of it well anchored in bushes and rocks. I was able to get my column to compressively fail and sheer cleanly on the basal facets with four taps from the shoulder (CT24Q2). But, my ECT test was negative,the slab/facet interface likely held together by the undergrowth.....

The sugary snow crystals near the ground do not stick together well and create a persistent weak layer that is certainly not uncommon in the Logan Area Mountains, but it is not as big of an issue this year as it often is.