First pit digging

First MIN and first pit digging. I did a 4 feet deep digging (my 300 probe doesn't reach the bottom) Aspect N/NE I could see 4 layers of snow, all finger soft in between I did 2 columns and Both broke after 3 elbows swing at the same layer  (the second one) Both were hard to remove from the column and broke at 3rd layers when I tried to move them. Riding felt solid and secure.