Two Ocean

No signs of unstable snow or recent avalanches that I saw.

Dug two pits on the NE ridge of Two Ocean Mountain

East Aspect, 10,000 feet: HS 77 inches (195 cm) January drought layer (facets) down about a foot. I did not see any buried surface hoar at this location (This was pretty much due East) but there was a 1 cm crust between the drought layer and February snow.  ECTN15 just below the crust (about a foot down) There just wasnt't quite enough of a cohesive slab on top to propagate a crack across the column.

Northwest, 10,000 feet: Just on the other side of the ridge from my east aspect pit, I found a consistently shallow area in the snowpack. HS 40 inches (100 cm) This pit had a significantly weaker structure with fist hardness facets (January drought) below the recent February snow. Although the February snow wasn't much more cohesive than it was in the east-facing pit, I did get an ECTP15 (down a foot), most likely due to the very weak nature of the underlying facets. 

These results speak to the varied distribution of our current persistent slab problem. Continue to use caution on steep, shady, northerly slopes.

In the next two days, Togwotee Pass is forecast to get 1-1.5 inches of SWE and up to 20 inches of snow. If this happens, I have a hunch we will see some sizeable natural avalanches on northerly-facing terrain. Keep track of snow totals as you ride tomorrow and Wednesday, and look for cracking, collapsing, drifting snow, and recent avalanches to indicate unstable snow and increasing avalanche danger.