Surface hoar and unstable snowpit test results on Mt. Watson

We had heard of an avalanche near Watson Peak that happened over the weekend. We fired up the snowmobiles to see if we could find it. We generally knew where it occurred but could not locate the avalanche. Subsequent snowfall likely filled in the avalanche. We did find plenty of sheltered N-facing terrain with cold snow on it. We would sink into the snow up to our thighs when we stepped off our sleds. We could feel the Dec 1 facet layer and the rain crust below 7500 ft. We climbed to an area above 8000 ft where we could no longer feel the rain crust and dug a snowpit. The facets still felt soft and weak. They also were not as wet as those we saw yesterday below the rain line @ 7500 ft. Snowpit tests in this area also yielded unstable results and indicated that if this layer breaks, the resulting fracture can travel along this weak layer. During our travels, we also found widespread surface hoar. By the afternoon, it had started to get destroyed by the sun on sunny slopes, but it was still intact on the shady slopes.

We stuck to lower-angle terrain today to avoid the persistent problem.