Incline Peak Observation

Got an alpine start with some friends on Incline Peak this morning to take a quick look at the snowpack structure on northerly aspects and harvest a quick low angle powder lap off the ridge before work. We were particularly interested in observing whether the 12/11 and 11/9 faceted layers were present in this immediate area and testing their reactivity with the recent storm loads. We dug a hasty pit to the ground on a N aspect in NTL terrain around 9250 ft elevation. The recent storm snow was right side up and seemed to be settling nicely. The old October and November facets were buried deep in the bottom of the pack but were readily apparent and still quite weak. We had difficulty identifying the 12/11 layer in the pit wall. The most noteable test result was an ECTP23 in the old October/November faceted snow that failed with a SC. When we pulled the block off the column another layer sympatheyically propegated above that we think might have been the 12/11 facets (around 70cm in the pit profile). Coverage was excellent and surface conditions were very pleasant for skiing.