We toured this afternoon on north, northwest, and northeast aspects at elevations ranging from 7,500 to 10,000 feet. We found a generally stable snowpack outside of wind affected zones but did note shallower pockets where the snowpack was weak and unsupportable. Consistent pole probes revealed this layer in several places from about 8,500 feet to 9,000 feet on north aspects but we did not find this problem anywhere where the snowpack was a little bit deeper. As we increased in elevation the layer became less and less prevalent.

We dug a full pit to the ground on a NNE aspect at 9,500 feet and found a very solid and supportable snowpack (see photo below.) Total snow depth was 110cm in this location with 20cm of new snow from the past two days. We did not find any buried surface hoar or near surface facets in this location and the new snow did not form a slab. It did seem like the snow before the Christmas storms weakened a little bit during the period of high pressure but this layer was not reactive in ECTs and we were only able to get failure by prying the whole column out with moderate to strong force. We had no failures on any layers in tests. Basal facets are still present but seem to be healed in this location. Photo 2 shows the layer that we were able to get failure on by prying with the shovel. Seems like something worth keeping an eye on especially in areas with a shallower snowpack.

Overall we were pleasantly surprised with the state of the snowpack here. The new snow did sluff very easily but there isn't really enough of it yet to be a problem. We skied some steeper slopes in the 35-40 degree range out of wind affected areas with no problems. Tomorrow I'd say moderate to considerable danger depending on how early the storm comes in and how strong the winds are with it.