Quick report
I heard about an avalanche in the Powderhouse Cirque yesterday and decided to investigate snow in similar terrain nearby. Based on avalanche observations since the last storm I was mostly interested in the new snow/old snow interface but also curious if the facets deeper in the snowpack are still reactive. I found a well supported steep slope with low overhead hazard on the west side of Scout Peak to dig a test pit. HS 231cm. I found more than a meter of softer snow on top of a 15cm of firmer old snow. Below this crust was softer dry facets. CT yielded CT 17RP @214 (down 17) and CT 23 SC @105 (down 126). Probing the snow below the facets, I found a thin pencil hard crust at about 102. ECT yielded ECTN15 @217 and 214, ECTN28 @201 and 184. I was not able to fully isolate the back of the column past the crust with the tools I had. While these results indicated better stability than I'd expected to find, given the uncertainty of the forecast and apparent stubbornness of our current avalanche problem I opted to ski low angle terrain back to the car. Soft snow and wind buff was decent above 8000' and breakable crust below was less so.