New Snow and Weak Layers in Lionhead

We rode to ski hill first, and we dug a pit on the NE aspect near the top of the slide path. The HS was 160 cm (5 feet). We found buried surface hoar under the 10-12” of new snow, and we got an ECTN13 on this layer. Next we rode to the old weather station, and the HS was 5.5’. We found the surface hoar in this pit too, but it did not propagate during our ECT. Despite these two results, skiers near Hebgen Lake found the surface hoar layer, and they had an ECTP3 and 6 on that layer. They also noted an ECTP26 on depth hoar near the bottom of the snowpack. Although the surface hoar isn’t propagating on every slope in the Lionhead Range, it is possible for it to propagate on other slopes in the range. With this buried surface hoar and facets near the ground riders and skiers should continue to carefully assess the snowpack before stepping out into steeper terrain.