New snow over weak old snow (facets) on Relay Peak.

New snow amounts of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) were observed in the Relay Peak area during the morning hours. The new snow is loading the faceted old snow over ice that exists on N aspects above 9,000' - 9,300' in the Mount Rose area. Some isolated areas of very minor cracking up to 60 cm (2 feet) in length were observed while breaking trail. Failure was noted at the old/new snow interface. The old faceted snow is fairly weak, but at the time of observation, the overlying new snow slab and faceted weak layer were not conducive to propagation in snowpit tests. As the new snow settles and becomes a more cohesive slab, the faceted weak layer below may become problematic. In this case the weak layer is a persistent crystal type, not within the storm snow (so called 24 hr rule has no relevance) and will be a focus for monitoring in the coming days.

Photo: Snowpit on N aspect at 9,700'. All layers clearly visible. New snow over facets over ice. The pencil is sitting on top of the ice layer and at the base of the facet layer(s).