Kirkwood snowpack

Impressively poor structure, even for this time of year.  Stability tests seemed pretty moot as there is no slab, but my layer of greatest concern is 61-55cm between the top and the second crust.  On polar slopes, we only anticipate the structure to worsen.  Furthermore, there is enough coverage above 8500 feet or so to make for some pretty continuous snow coverage in most of our start zones.  

This pit was dug in the ski area, but is completely representative of a backcountry pack as there has been no mitigation and no skier compaction yet this season.