Weather
Overcast with periods of S1 snowfall and limited visibility with cold temperatures.
Snowpack
One of the more concerning observations was the abundance of super weak near-surface facets buried below the new snow from today. A small stripe only 1-2cm thick was incredibly touchy, even with a very small and soft slab on top. This was most pronounced on north-facing slopes but will become a widespread problem with more snow. Many slopes have faceted snow grains at the surface as well as deeper in the snowpack from the prolonged period of clear weather. North-facing slopes were entirely faceted, with a weak, four-finger mid-pack and larger 2mm small depth hoar at the bottom. East-facing slopes where we dug had some drifting effect and still had some stronger mid-pack layers that were faceting, but still 1-finger hardness. The basal facets on the east were also a little stronger (4F) and smaller (1-1.5mm).