Whumpfing and mixed snowpit test results on Elephant's Hump

We toured the Elephant's Hump area today looking for signs of instability and assessing the Dec 11 PWL. We dug three test pits and looked for obvious signs of instability along the way. We triggered two whumpfs in two separate areas on N and NE aspects. Both locations were in below treeline terrain low on the peak. Shooting cracks occurred with the first whumpf on a NE aspect at 8,000'. This collapse covered the entirety of a 20' x 30' test slope. Noticeable vertical displacement occurred at the second whumpf location on a N aspect around 7,950'.

We had mixed test results in the three snowpits we dug:

Testpit #1 BTL NE aspect at 8,000', lat/long 38.69633, -119.96720 - ECTP-24 & ECTP-27 on Dec 11 PWL (whumpfing and cracks in immeadiate area)

Testpit #2 NTL N aspect at 8,400', lat/long 38.691602, -119.970109 - ECTX on Dec 11 PWL, PST 45/100 end on Dec 11 PWL

Testpit #3 BTL NW aspect at 8,070', lat/long 38.696980, -119.969757 - ECTP-28 & ECTX on Dec 11 PWL, PST 30/100 end on Dec 11 PWL

We saw no signs of problematic instability on either the Dec 17 layer or on the Dec 25 old/new snow interface.

Minor amounts of E wind scouring occurred in this area last night, less than expected. Small surface hoar was present in large open areas including on ridgetops. We could also see the Dec 28 surface hoar layer buried 1-2 inches below the snow surface.