Near surface facets at Elephant's Hump

Went touring around various aspects between 7800-8500ft near Elephant's Hump to look for surface hoar, and most of what we found was either very small or already knocked down by moderate to strong SW/W winds. Surface forms varied between a breakable crust and near surface facets. Near surface facets were also found under the crust everywhere we traveled. I could find the Dec 30th buried surface hoar layer, but none of it was intact. The Dec 12th crust was observed 30-40cm from the surface. Although facets still exist above, below, and between the crust(s), no observations indicated a current instability. Wind transport was observed at Elephant's Back and along Frog Lake Ridge in the afternoon.

Pic 1: Weak crust with 10-20cm of near surface facets below. I was the 7th person in this skin track, and note how loose and granular the snow is, instead of compacted.

Pic 3: A mix of very small new surface hoar, fallen over older surface hoar, and near surface facets. Pic taken early in our tour. Later in the day, winds were increasing and influencing the snow surface even in the trees.

Pic 4: Sunny slopes were textured from previous rain and strong sun. Some surface hoar was observed intact on the lee side of the texture. This crust was breakable with facets underneath.