Continued faceting on Relay Peak.

Faceting of old snow, in the mid and lower heights of the snowpack continues on N aspects in the Relay Peak area. Above 9,300' where these facets sit on top of basal ice, these grains are becoming looser and softer within the snowpack over time. This warrants continued monitoring as there is still a future concern for possible persistent slab instability. Snowpit tests indicate that this weak layer holds the proper charasterists for propagation and could become unstable with significant future loading by new snow or rain.

Photo 1: Loose grain facets from above the basal ice layer. Hard corners, 2 mm size, no striations.

Photo 2: Minor wind transport of snow W to E across the slope, only during gusts, created some skin track refill after 40 min. No significant wind slab formation was observed in lee areas.