Elfin Lakes Hut / Gargoyles

<p>Dug a pit and performed an ECT on a low-angle (~20 degrees) test slope on a small slope between Elfin Lakes hut and the Gargoyles. The top layer of storm snow from the night before was about 30cm deep, collapsed under a few taps from the elbow but was very unconsolidated. We were more concerned that the upper 60cm of the snowpack slid on the December 15th rain crust at CT 28 / 8 taps from the shoulder. We saw a clean shear, with propagation across the width of our test block. We did a kind of poor-man's Rutschblock test in the same pit. Too low angle for a proper one, but we saw a similar failure on the rain crust after a skier jumped once on the block, no results from loading the block or flexing from the knees. Because of this low risk / high consequence result and the relative inexperience of our group, we stuck to moderate terrain for the three days we were in the area. Didn't dig additional pits after the first day, but the snow seemed to be consolidating well on the 31st and 1st. We saw signs of sluff avalanches, but saw no evidence of slabs releasing. Winds were minimal and we didn't see any signs of significant wind transport of the new snow from the 28th on Columnar or the Gargoyles, although the col between the two seemed to be somewhat wind-compacted.</p>