Back Prince south

40-50 cm new snow in last 48 hrs at TL. Sluffing on steeper slopes; fresh snow still generally unconsolidated.

Generally overcast but occasionally broken. Winds nil lower down (2000m); light to moderate N wind at TL / ridge tops (2250 - 2280m). Temps minus 4-5 in early afternoon at TL. Snowfall rate variable, from none to occasionally up to 1 cm/hr for short periods of time.

Knee deep Boot Pen on to a very supportive layer about 20 cm thick underfoot. Digging deeper revealed weaker facets. Curious to poke the character of the slab at 170-150 cm down, we decided to do an RB. 240-205 Fist. 205-190 4F. 190-170 1F. 170-150 P slab. 145 crusty layer. 140 & down 1F-4F facetted. RB no result. With further pounding away at it we finally got a non-planar partial break around 180-175 depth (see photo). As we broke up more of the snow to fill in the pit we got a (by then) unexpected planar break at 125 cm.