"Persistent" Problem and Facet Farming

We spent the day up Nordstrom Creek and even though this area didn't get the deep snowfall that the Lizard Range got, it was still a great day to be out. The snowpack is shallow in this area, with an average depth of 120 cm. We saw no new avalanches in our travels, but did have an attention-grabbing failure on the January Drought layer (ECTP17 down 50 on FC 2-4) when we dug into the snow. We dug a pit in a sheltered north-facing area and found the January drought layer down 50 cm. The base of the snowpack (well....everything below the Jan Drought) is poor. It is composed of large, loose unconsolidated facets. There is, however, a thick crust near the surface on all solar aspects that bridges this Jan Drought layer. The day was mild with -2 being our lowest temperature. The wind was calm and the skies were overcast.