Did a fair amount of poking around in the snow up into the mid elevations where snow depths ranged 160-200cm. New snow seems to be bonding well to the old surface. This is likely aided by rain, which left the upper 30-50cm of snowpack pretty damp below 7000ft. The 3" of new snow sits atop a thin crust of varying strength, in some places skiable, in other places barely noticeable. Below this crust the snowpack is around 1.2m (give or take) of fairly consistent 4F or so snow. Layers are evident from the various storms, but hand pits, shovel shears, and CTs in 4 or 5 locations along the NW to N to E part of the compass didn't reveal interface problems in these layers.

The bigger issue seems to be the monster lurking below, the old facets about 130cm down. These facets are slowly strengthening, with mixed forms and some moisture making its way into the this zone. Based on the avalanche activity of the last couple weeks in the backcountry, I think this is simply a case of it goes, it goes big. ECT was unreactive, but I had one CT fall off this layer on isolation. While it's not a formal test, I also drug my saw through the facets just below an ECT column I'd tested and got the thing to go about 65cm across. Not what I'd call a bullseye, but enough to make you stop and think. I'll probably be spending some time looking at PST and deep taps as the season progresses, as I don't think the persistent problem goes away anytime soon.

To top it all off, there was wind transport of the new snow as well.

Pictured below is consistent 4F pit wall (8100ft WNW) with scooped out facets beneath.