Observation Date: 01/13/2020

Route/Location:
Went up Ward Mountain to about 9000 feet and skied back down the way we came up. It was pretty thin below 6500 feet and make for scary skiing conditions back to the truck.

Weather:
Cold and windy.

Wind:
Winds were switching directions and blowing snow.

New Snow: 0-3″

Avalanche Activity:
None noted but stay out of avalanche terrain due to avalanche concerns.

Other Comments:
Dug a pit a 9000 feet and found 150 cm of snow on an E facing aspect. CT 21 SC @ 40cm and ECTP26 @40cm. This failed on facets sandwiched between ice crusts. The slab above the failure was quite stiff and heavy and when prying it out it knocked me off my feet. It was pretty impressive that we got it to propagate on an ECT seeing that the weak layer was buried below 4 feet of pencil hard slab. The results were surprising and did not inspire confidence.

Observer: Todd Glew