The new snow today was not quite enough to tip the scales, but we now have a widespread buried weak layer, and it is definitely going to be problematic in the future. Low compression test scores and a small natural soft slab are indicative of just how sensitive this layer is and what will happen with more loading. In a north-facing pit at 10,780 feet, I got CT3 RP down 14 cm, CT2 RP down 14 cm, and ECTN 3 down 14 cm.
All failures were at the new/old snow interface. I found the new snow to be less dense than what is buried just below it. For now, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. The new snow just doesn't have enough body to it. If we get more snow on Friday, and we creep up towards 1 inch of cumulative SWE, the snowpack will become much more reactive than it was today.
The photo below is the small avalanche in Upper Tele Gold. Zoom in to see a well defined crown.
At the end of the day, I skied over this steep rollover to see what the snow would do. You can see that a very small amount of snow moved downhill. This is a north-facing slope, and weak facets exist right beneath the new snow.
