Fireplug

Most of the reports of instability have come from places with shallower snowpacks. The Fireplug holds terrain analogous to where another party triggered several collapses yesterday. We spent time on the N side of the ridge looking for weakness. Numerous tracks existed in this area, and we did not trigger collapses even in undisturbed areas when we stepped off our skis. Poking into the snow, we could easily feel old, weak snow below the recent storm snow. Snowpit tests produced mixed results, with unstable results in one pit about midway down the slope and no unstable results in another pit closer to the ridge.

As in other areas, surface conditions varied from wind-affected on exposed slopes to softer snow on the most sheltered N-facing slopes to warm, wet snow on sunny slopes. 

A shallower snowpack exists in this area, with most places holding less than 3 ft (1 m) of snow. About half of this snow came from the recent storm. That storm snow has consolidated into a strong layer resting on top of older, weaker snow that seems to be gaining strength slowly.