Observations from Carpenter Ridge

Searching for the Jan 5 buried surface hoar layer in this area came up with no evidence of its presence in any well developed or reactive state. Three testpits on NW-N-NE aspects near treeline and below treeline between 8,200' and 8,500' spread from E to W along Carpenter Ridge found only a few surface hoar grains at the Jan 5 interface, nothing like what is present in areas where this weak layer is reactive. New surface hoar up to 10 mm in size was present in select areas, but absent in most (photo 2). Evidence of an old small wind slab avalanche existed below a cornice feature on the ridgeline at the noted lat/long (photo 1). A quick crown profile showed typical wind slab layering. No evidence of any persistent weak layer involvement in this avalanche. Evidence of wind transport from the past two days was very minor with new wind load amounts at 2 inches or less. The photo of ski track refill on the ridgetop held less than 2 inches of drifted snow.