The recent storm snow had settled into a 4F hard cohesive slab of snow above the obvious layer of weak faceted snow from the January dry spell. (photo below) In our extended column tests the slab/ weak layer combination was not producing propagating results however, recent avalanche activity continues to show that the potential exists. Perhaps the weight of the new snow alone is not be enough to overload the weak layer. Places where wind has depositied additional snow and weight are more concerning. In this location at 10,500 feet, no crust from last weekends warm up was observed on sheltered north aspects.
However, on a steep east-facing slope just a hundred feet below, we found a 3-5cm melt-freeze crust between the recent storm snow and the layer of facets.
