Our group dug in two similar locations (9300', n/ne aspect) sand found the standard crust/facet combo at the base of the snowpack, but most notably the new storm snow didn't seem to bond very well with the old snow interface(mostly wind-broken snow, some near surface facets). While PST results were unremarkable on the basal facet layer, this old/new interface failed at PST 05/100 END. Many CT results within the new snow. Great skiing, sluggish loose/dry, and very soft slab avalanches.

We skied a few laps in the NE-facing terrain above Desolation Lake, where we found increasing instability throughout the day within the new snow and on the old/new snow interface. Mostly sluggish cracking/collapsing underfoot, however on steep enough slopes the loose dry, and soft slab avalanches would entrain more snow and pick-up speed, running 100-200' downslope. We triggered many small, low-consequence avalanches today, but it seemed like the slab continued to grow stronger and more reactive as the snow stacked up in the afternoon, with the likelihood of burial or injury increasing.

Pictured in the image above, the bed surface from a loose dry/soft slab combo is visible, with parts of a crown above. SS-AS-D1-R1