General Observations

Chilkat Pass Zone: 3,500′ SE-aspect/air temp -11C/sunny skies/light NW wind/snowpack depth 135cm/boot pen 5cm. Overall hard wind slab with sastrugi mixed in, areas of soft near surface facets, and micro surface wind crusts that broke underfoot. Pit results revealed our layer of most concern: buried facets 46cm down that failed at CT9 SC, CT26 SC, ECTP17, and PST 65/100 End. This possibly developed during the cold clear spell after new years and before the wind/warm-up/precip that followed. Another weak interface was located down 54cm and at the ground on basal facets. Cold temperature have the upper 55cm of hard dense snow in a strong temperature gradient, while the lower 85cm is noticeably less dense and warmer.