Snowpit on Janine's Ridge

We dug a snowpit on a NE aspect of the shoulder at the north end of Janine's ridge to assess the stability of the deep slab that had been forecast for several days. The layer did not fail under the standard column test, but after prying at the column from behind with our shovel it did break off and slide exactly at the observed weak layer, approx 4-5 feet down. Later on the approach to Dick's peak, we watched several skiers ski cut the NE bowl and trigger a wind slab release that stretched 50-100 feet horizontally, but the deep slab remained stable. We skied the bowl with no slab releases.