The two loud collapses I experienced on NE aspects tell me the PWL is still sensitive to our weight. The first collapse occurred while approaching my pit site on the Darkside. I got an ECTP 18 in this pit. 1 week ago I dug in a similar spot. There is more snow, and more of a load today, but the results are similar. To compare this week's pit to last week's, see last week's observation here.

Later in the day I checked out some southerly aspects. These aspects didn't get any sun today and the skiing quality is good. I found poor snowpack structure and got ECTP 28 in this pit on Dave's Run. The failure occurred on facets beneath a hard crust. This is the same layer that failed (ECTP 24) in our SW facing pit on 1/14. I didn't experience any collapsing on the Southerly aspects. I traversed across the top of the "Land of 1,000 Rocks" on the way to Westwoods with no collapsing. Southerlies are less sensitive than the Northerlies, but poor structure and propagation has me staying out of avalanche terrain for now. Riders can find the "sweet spot" and trigger an avalanche 2 feet deep.

It's nice to see some new snow, yet another incremental loading event for our snowpack. Not enough to bring the house down, but enough to keep the PWL sensitive and right near it's breaking point. It seems we are entrenched in Considerable danger for quite some time.