Farside

Snowpit results today are thematic for Hatcher Pass in this drought period: We generally have stiff, old and unreactive upper-snowpack wind slabs with faceted grains below coupled with slopescale variability inhibiting propagation (avalanches). This structure, albeit poor, is also inhibiting the translation of force to weak, unconsolidated snow below. 

Pay attention though. If we ever get a new snow load--even a small one, if it comes with wind--this garbage structure will likely produce a significant avalanche cycle. Enjoy what you can while you can but know that any signficiant moisture will be falling on top of Hatcher Trassh--large, weak, bouncy and unconsolidated snow grains near the ground. 

If I had to pick an avalanche problem today, I'd say you could produce a very small, dry loose sluff on NW-N-NE aspects in sheltered terrain. With the amount of wind effect, these are unlikely to be above D1 and thus are not an official avalanche problem--more of a "heads up" to the intrepid traveler seeking the little (but attainable) steep and deep terrain we have left out there. 

The truly biggest hazard would be trenching a ski or board into a stiff wind slab in one of the many transitions from soft and playful turns to stiff and techy and tweaking a knee or worse. 

No instabilities observed today.

Northwesterly aspects above 4,100' were a combination of deep, bottomless facets and punchy, pencil hard wind board with some in-between, soft, carvable, faceted snow. We headed up to a gully on the southernmost ridge of Farside to check out some snowpack structure in a gully where a shallow, natural wind slab avalanche occurred sometime during the last loading event (more than two weeks ago). 

Snowpit tests on a NW aspect, 40* at 4,100' in 135cm of snow had inconsistent results. My first extended column test produced propagation ~18cm down on a firm, old, faceted wind slab interface (ECTP17). A repeated test in the same pit location got ECTX (no results). When I dug the second test in the back wall from the first one, this weak layer was less pronounced with a looser, F to 4F hard interface about 10cm thick at the same depth, which inhibited a cleaner slab/weak layer/slab interface. 

A 15' boot to our looker's left on this NW gully in Farside, and we were in bottomless facets. Riding conditions were variable but enjoyable--turns were linkable and wind board was soft enough to carve in. 

More West/Southwesterly aspects below 4,000' were showing some slight signs of surface warming, despite the cold, ambient air temps. We did not see any signs of solar instability, however, and it simply made for some nice, creamy faceted turns on the low-angle egress.