ECT, PST on 7600' NNE Slope

Fist hard snow on the upper snowpack increasing in hardness to the first faceted snow above the first rain crust, down about 55cm, then roughly 10-15cm below that is the next rain crust. This lower rain crust had the most developed facets and produced moderate to hard test results, as well as two PSTs that showed that while the near crust facets are starting to bond, they are still capable of producing propagation. None of the faceted grains were incredibly well developed in this area and it was mostly evident in the sugary nature and subtle striations in grains. Largest faceted grains observed were about 2mm just below the lower rain crust.

I took temperatures and noted that there is minimal temperature gradient across the layers of concern. between 80cm up from ground and 110 up there was less than 1C difference (all resting about -4.5C). This indicates that the faceted layers should be sintering and the instability trending toward more stable.

Tests still did indicate that propagation was possible and I would assume that this would be more of a concern in higher, colder areas where the temp gradients may be higher.