Marble Pass

My partner and I travelled to Marble Pass to compare the snowpack structure to that of the northern Elkhorns. We observed a few natural wind slabs at ridgeline, which was unsurprising given the abundant snow available for transport. We were surprised to find buried surface hoar at the 2/14 interface at middle elevations on W and NE aspects, both in sheltered locations. We did not observe a cohesive storm slab, and temperatures remained very cold with light winds. Roughly 40-50cms of snow now sits atop the 2/8 interface. We were able to travel exclusively on snow from the plow turnaround. 

Cracking specific to NW slopes being loaded by SE winds at ridgeline.

On a west aspect at 7500' we found a total of 90cms of snow, buried surface hoar at the 2/14 interface and 2mm FC below a thin decomposing crust at the 2/8 interface. The rest of the snowpack was 2mm FC with evidence of rounding. Neither weak layer propagated in our ECT, but both did in a PST. 

On a north east aspect at 7400' we found a total of 145cms of snow, buried surface hoar at the 2/14 interface and smaller 0.5 FC below the 2/8 interface. Again, neither weak layer propagated during an ECT. During a PST the buried surface hoar propagated to the end of the column at 20/100cms.