Tragedy Springs

We went to Tragedy Springs today to investigate the persistent weak layer and the impact from yesterday's Northeast winds. Upon arrival conditions were punchy with a firm melt freeze crust on the surface up to 8100 feet. Above 8100 feet there was cold soft snow on North aspects  with a boot pen of one to two inches. Below tree line terrain seemed unaffected by yesterday's winds. Only on the ridge lines and above tree line terrain was impacted in this area, leaving behind piles of snow patches and ice within the landscape. We dug a pit on a northwest aspect at 8600 feet. Compression test showed some planar results approximately 65 cm down on top of a crust with facets. Our extended column test did not have any results scoring an ECTX. I performed a propagation saw test on on the same layer at 65 cm down. My score was PST 100/100 at 65 cm down. Even though I went all the way through the cut, the entire slab slid off the base in one cohesive slab. At 125 cm down, there was a layer of 4 to 5 mm facets. These grains were large,  slightly moist but still loose.  DTN28 RP on this same layer. As the day continued ambient air temperatures rose above freezing , and the surface snow was turning wet on solar aspects. As we traveled around we did not see any signs of instability. 

None observed.