Near surface facets at Big Meadow

Very warm afternoon around Big Meadow, with strong sunshine, warm ambient temps, and light winds. Snow surfaces in the sun were wet upon our noon arrival, though we could still find cold facets in indirect sun and in the shade. Sunny aspects exposed to previous winds had a lot of texture that was easy to ski through due to surface melting. Surface hoar was observed intact in the shade and decomposing in the sun, and large (2.0mm) facets were found under the surface in shady areas and areas with indirect sun. No signs of instability were observed today.

Pic 1: Surface hoar and a faceting melt freeze crust at the surface (zoom in to see striations). Fist hard, 2.0mm facets were found directly underneath. 

Pic 2: Since the snowpack is dwindling, I thought it would be good to check on October snow found at the ground/snow interface. Although this was a weak layer in the early season, at this location that same layer is now very strong.

Pic 3: Sunny surfaces had lots of texture.

Pic 4: Unlike many other areas, the snow under trees wasn't as badly contaminated with debris and refrozen tree bombs.