Molars North

Skied Molars North with a strong partner on Jan 17. Descended the 'Jelly Donut' (mainline) off Ruedi's North. Many recent tracks, lots of evidence of smaller avalanches likely from skier traffic. Dug a hole top of Ruedis North to remind ourselves of our Rockies-like weak and thin snowpack at this time: TP (test pit) North Aspect, 2284 m, 30° slope, HS(Height-Snow) 90 cm. Broken and Sudden Planar compressions test results dn 55 on facets (not repeatable tests). Of note was density change; 10-15 cm of P(pencil) density down 35-40 is doing a poor job at best bridging out upper facets from all the basal facets. Biggest hazard of the day was large Facet-alanches (loose-dry avalanches scrubbing down to Pencil layer or right to ground). Molars North line had freshly released Na(natural) avalanche LD(Loose-dry) sz 1.5-2.0, giving confidence in our line choice. Very rocky entrances, we chose terrain and assessed snow conditions very carefully.