Weak interface at Luther Pass

A few inches of new snow on top of a supportable crust in the Luther Pass area today. A weak interface between new and old snow was observed throughout my travels to 9300ft. This interface was wet on very sunny slopes, and faceted on cooler slopes.

Pic 1: Test slopes were easy to trigger, showing both dry loose and wet loose characteristics.  

Pic 2: New snow was about ankle high in many places. I'm pointing at a thin breakable crust just above the supporable crust. Mitt pits and hand shears showed weak snow both above and below the thin crust. Note the reflective surface forms, which were large plated stellars, not surface hoar.

Pic 3: The thin crust is sticking out here, after I removed the snow above and below it. Small facets below it, and weak precip particles above it. This was the structure I observed on cooler slopes. On warmer slopes, the interface was weak due to wetting.