Wasn't intending on submitting an observation as our measly mid-November snowpack can easily be over-analyzed, but I had a brief email exchange this am with Evelyn and she wondered if the crusts just above the faceted layer at the ground that were found earlier this week by herself as well as Mark White were responsible for the connectedness of the slab avalanches from Saturday. I dug lots of quick hand pits on northerly aspects today and was only finding the crust in isolated spots. Furthermore, it seemed to be disintegrating, likely due to the steep temperature gradient. In a few spots where the crust was intact I was finding the facet chains that Evelyn reported. Overall, today in Big Cottonwood I was unable to consistently find the crust that Evelyn and Mark were observing earlier this week in Little Cottonwood.

Speaking of temperature gradients - at midday I took a few measurements of the surface of the snow and was finding temps ranging from -8 to -12 C in 30 cms of snow: it is likely we'll see our thin snowpack continue to facet this week.

Given the less-than-stellar riding conditions, it is a great time to practice beacon drills, and today my two partners and I found a sunny spot out of the wind.