The buried layer of sugary faceted snow that plagued us early in the season is not nearly as far from the snow surface in the Pine Valley mountains of southwest Utah. The PWL is under about a meter of snow. Even though I did not get a fracture in my compression test, when I pulled on my column of snow it fractured on the PWL. That said, there is reason for optimism: the faceted layer is a 4F hardness which is an improvement from what we saw earlier in the season with fist hardness in other pit locations in the state. Moreover, I had to use a fair amount of energy to get it to come off.

Overall I'd say normal caution is advised and more immediate safety concerns are sloughing of sugary surface snow in steep terrain. But, relative to other areas of the state where it is no longer a concern, the PWL in the Pine Valley mountains should still be on one's radar.