Weak Snow Pack on Hector South Peak

Very poor snowpack in this area. Dug a pit on an apprx. 30 degree, lightly-treed, SW aspect at 2260 m [51.5400, -116.2536]. HS: 135 cm with the bottom 60 cm of the snowpack consisting entirely of depth hoar and basal facets. CTE6, sudden collapse, failed 75 cm down on the basal facets. Due to the compression test results, the strong solar radiation and warming to apprx. 5C at 2260 m, and numerous other parties in the area, turning around and skiing back to the truck was an easy decision to make (but really unpleasant as there was only about 40 cm of snow near the highway).