Almost sunny

Location Name: 
Sub-Shields
Observation date: 
Saturday, January 9, 2021 - 18:30
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
No
Observation made by: Public

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Quick Observation

Tried to find the sunshine, which teased us from the other side of the divide. So close...
The snow was refrozen chunder at the car, but quickly transioned to a couple inches of dry and fluffy surface snow on a consolidated base with no crust to be felt under skis. No cracking, no sluffing to be noted. Surface hoar is forming in all open spaces on north and south aspects above 5000'. Winds remained minimal throughout the day. The cloud deck hung out just above us all day, with no sun to affect the snow. 
Dug pits on N and S aspects. The light crust from a few days ago is 25cm down, with lower density snow below. We did have planar failure on that density change with shovel shears in both pits, but no propagation in ECTs. 

Travel Details
Region: 
Glacier National Park - Southern Lewis Range
Activity: 
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
SE
Total Snow Depth: 
140cm
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
HS 140 ECTN 16 at 30 cm down, below light ice (rain?) crust. No buried layers of SH noted. 12/9 layer is 4inches of ice about 40 cm from the ground.
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
NE
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Surface Hoar
On the surface
Total Snow Depth: 
150cm
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
HS 150 ECTN 28 at 25cm on the light ice layer. ECTN 30 at 28cm on the density change below the light ice layer. This second layer is what failed on light shovel shear.