Four things of note today:

1.The snow was topped with an amazing layer of rime-encrusted surface hoar.

2.The entire slope (including in trees) showed evidence of buckling - most likely occurred during last week's natural cycle. The slab here was not as deep as more east facing slopes. It was interesting though to see that the weight of the new snow had been enough to cause some movement. My friend Lisa referred to it as "Shar-Pei snow."

3.The weakest facets are now not the basal layer but elevated about 10" up. The facets on the ground are getting compressed but above those the facets' density is still fist and they are large.

4. Poor snow pack structure is the only red flag we observed today.