New snow instabilities on Poulsen Peak

We avoided avalanche terrain today on our tour of Poulsen Peak.   However, our uptrack allowed us to observe some signs of instability within and just below the new storm snow.   We observed natural avalanche activity and investigated small test slopes for signs of instability.   Quick test pits and test slopes revealed several instabilities within the new storm snow.  Most of these were within the low density snow near the surface, however, we did observe a test slope on a S aspect at 7300' fail 15" down at the interface of the new snow and the old melt freeze surface.   We dug a snowpit at 7500' on a NE aspect.  In addition to the new snow problems, our test pit revealed failures at the bottom of the storm snow and just below the new snow interface.  CTH SP 70cms down, and CTH SC and PST 35/100 end 81cms down on soft snow and small facets below a thin melt freeze crust.  

Snow showers and periods of graupel continued throughout the morning and early afternoon and strong SW winds continued to transport snow throughout our tour.   During breaks in the storm, the sun appeared to warm up S and SE aspects enought that the snow surface become sticky and heavy.   

Overall a really interesting day.  With recent snowfall and dynamic weather, there appear to be a number of uncertainties to investigate regarding our snowpack.