I did an ECT here after finding an unexpected crust in a hand pit that broke upon isolation. I was super surprised to get and ECTP11 on a NW slope 30cm down. We were in the same zone all day and as the sun moved I realized the spot I dug was in a narrow area that got sun all through the day. Once the shadow moved into that zone I checked again and 10' further into the questionable slope the crust disappeared. I expected the windslab to be the issue when I dug the pit but it was still generally unconsolidated, the propagation was due to the stiffness of the crust below the developing windslab. After discovering that the crust wasn't in the rest of the NNW bow I realized the pit was not representative of the slope. Illustrates the spacial variability of pits!

Photo 1: Apparent crack running the full length of a large NW facing cornice above Lake Martha.

Photo 2: Demonstration of terrain causing wind tunnels that could load slopes outside of the typical leeward primary wind direction.

Photo 3: 1F crust sandwiched between developing windslab above and 5cm of primarily decomposing fragments.