Poor Snowpack Structure in Carson Range

Toured up through Heavenly Resort today to access terrain outside of the resort boundary on the north face of East Peak. New snow amounts were in the 30-50 cm range with locally deeper pockets. We noted signs of instability everywhere, including multiple massive whumpfs, and shooting cracks, even just off of resort groomers. Approaching our pit location, one member of our party triggered a shooting crack that extended 30+ feet from his skis, and created noticeable separation in the snowpack, which we were able to find when we dug. Our pit showed an obviously poor snowpack structure, with a relatively soft slab sitting on 46 cm of facets to the ground. All of our CT and ECT tests failed on this layer, all between 11 and 14 taps, and both of our ECTs propagated cleanly and with energy (see video). We were on a 22 degree slope, but on a steeper slope, I would not have been surprised if it shot out at us. The storm snow was rightside up, with a noticeable hardness change right at the old/new interface, from the wet, high density snow that fell at the beginning of the storm. Ultimately, not a snowpack that I will be willing to take a chance with for a while.