Test Pit West of Tam Lake

Below freezing and windy with blowing S-1 precip almost the entire time we were out on the snomo's. Although I was looking for it, I saw no evidence of avalanche activity in the zones we visited. After getting ridiuously trenched on a steep noll and locating those unsupporting facets Travis warned me about 4 ft down from the surface, I decided it was a good time to dig an actual snow pit that my sled was not centered in. We minded the advisory and kept things super mellow, limiting our playing to simple/challenging low angle Tx. Blowing snow continued all day until we returned to the staging area around 4pm (pic 6)

Pic 1 & 2: View of the Nipple from Blue Lakes road and a sizable cornice that has developed along the saddle on the lee side.

Pic 3: Topographic-like wind scoured Southwest facing slope.

Pic 4: Snow profile pit. ~8100tf In this particular location (E aspect) HS 152cm, I observed a 2cm wind-packed crust sitting on top of the softer fist hardness layers. A melt-freeze crust was just slightly lower around 142. Outcomes from my compression tests of CT15 SP@129 and CT26 SP@120 with SP results on both, was a bit of a surprise so close to the surface, but the snow did feel a little odd beneath the track. Digging with my shovel vs track this time, facets were located around 37cm up from the ground.

Pic 6: Clouds began to clear and the sun came out when we returned to the lot.