Rightside up snow at Spooner

Surprisingly difficult to find signs of instability at Spooner today. Numerous slope cuts, including overlapping cuts and moving sequentially higher on the slope, failed to produce even a shooting crack. Hand shears did not display any planar fractures, and several trenches were examined with consistently right-side-up storm snow. We did not get to the more wind exposed terrain along the ridge, nor onto the big E aspects dropping to the Carson Valley.

Pic 1: Although +/-4 feet of storm snow was observed in this area, some lower elevation slopes didn't have much base to begin with. Several logs and stumps were hit today, but as we gained elevation towards Duane Bliss the snowpack was much deeper.

Pic 2: Right above my shovel is the warm layer from early in the storm. 12" below that is the old snow surface.  No surface hoar observed between old and new snow, and the storm snow was right-side-up.

Pic 3: Riding this unsupported road cut did not produce any cracking or signs of instability. This picture is one of many such tests, all with negative results.