Goat Peak

Snowmobiled from Goat Creek to Banker Pass, then up to Goat Peak. Rather cold, but thankfully calm to light north winds. I observed a few recent avalanches which appeared to be wind slabs. One may have stepped deeper, but impossible to say from a distance. Overall I was impressed with the snow depth and quality. Excellent riding conditions for anyone with more skills than myself. While the new snow appeared to be a bit sensitive in shear and compression tests, nothing moved when cutting small test slopes. Not surprisingly, the bottom 40cm of the snowpack is more faceted here than the WA pass area. 

A few recent wind slab avalanches observed in nearby terrain. One possibly released deeper in the snowpack, but difficult to say.

Snow height varies with elevation and wind deposit, and near Goat Peak I found 80 to 120cm of snow on the ground.

At 5600' on a SW aspect I found a 100cm snowpack.

The top 35 cm of new-ish low density snow sits atop the 1/8 interface. There can be a very subtle crust at this interface. 

The middle snowpack slightly increases in hardness and is made up of decomposing fragments and rounds which are now faceting. 

From about 40cm to the ground the large melt forms from December are facted and slightly less hard than the snow above. 

In a compression test the new snow failed on the 1/8 interface ( CT11 SP @65cm)

In an extended column test the overlying slab propagated just below 2mm factes 30cm off the ground during hard taps (ECTP 23 @30cm)