Mount Elly

10-20 cm of new snow where we travelled with graupel. SW winds were actively transporting moderate amounts of snow and fresh drifts were forming along exposed ridges.

We dug a pit on the NE shoulder of Mount Elly, 9050' ENE aspect. The rain crust buried 2 days ago remains easy to find.

Pit results: 

ECTN4 in new snow top 12 (25cm) inches down, ECTN11 below rain crust down 14 inches (35 cm) down,  ECTP13 Nov Facets near the ground

Propagation in November facets could be a little misleading here due to the stout rain crust in the midpack; however, I would still consider it notable. Out of curiosity, one ECT was performed, isolating the column to just above the rain crust, with propagation on the 4th tap just below the crust. This is not a standardized test and more than anything probably just indicates the bridging nature of the crust and lack of slab formation above the crust, although a density break was observed above the crust - most likely from the lull in the storm yesterday morning. All that said, we noticed the small avalanches reported in Thanksgiving Bowl on our way out that look to be about crust depth.

No cracking in soft wind slabs forming in exposed areas. A couple of large collapses in the meadows above out pit location at 9200 feet on the NE shoulder of Elly above the steep rollover going into Bear Claw.