Observations from Indian Valley

New snow was deeper and colder than area snotel reports implied, with less evidence of wind transport and previous rain than expected. New snow/old snow bonds not weak, with moderate and poor quality shovel shears. Yesterday's rain level may have been around 7500ft where a firm crust was observable below new snow, and quickly became unobservable at higher elevations.

Easy to find facets in this area today - every time we stepped off sleds, if we broke through MFcr, we sunk into the facets below. Similarly, sudden direction changes or quick accel or decel and track or skis would dig into facets below.

One test slope whumphed twice while off sled - once when I stepped off and the second time when a rider approached in flats above slope (creek feature).

Minor evidence of instabilities observed, even with several slope cuts: Whumphs, snowpack structure and column tests.

Video: Pretty similar structure observed elsewhere today, with the exception of yesterday's rain crust at 7500ft and below. ECT propagated in the crust sandwich, but repeated taps in attempt to get the basal facets to fail did not produce results.