A Tale of Two Snowpacks

We traveled on wind sheltered east and northeast aspects between 5800' and 6600', along with wind affected southeast aspects between 6200' and 6600'. 

• Above 6000' there was up to 8" of dense upside down storm snow. This layer was denser on wind affected slopes where it possessed soft slab characteristics with cracking underfoot.  
• On wind sheltered slopes, we ski cut steep slopes up to 40 degrees with no results. 
• A snowpit at 6500' on an east aspect was 50" deep. There was no failure at the new snow (12/18 storm)/old snow (12/11 storm) interface. The mid-pack was 26" thick and strong. Propagation with moderate force (ECTP 14) occurred in the basal facets.
• A snowpit on a southeast aspect at 6600' was 44" deep. There was a failure at the new snow/old snow interface with easy force in compression tests (CT 4). No propagation occurred in this layer. The remainder of the pack seemed to be glued to the top of the Thanksgiving crust. Below the crust was a thin layer of facets.