Persistent Slab on FAA

Location Name: WMR Sidecountry; FAA Knob Observation date: Saturday, April 4, 2020 - 15:30	Is this an Avalanche Observation: No

Observation made by: Public

Tabs

Quick Observation

Toured to the FAA knob NW of WMR Summit House to see what the persistent slab/weak layer looked like there.
Hasty pit on NE-facing 32 degree slope at approx. 6650' in an opening in the trees and about 100 vertical feet below the ridgetop.
Found what I believe is the 3/24 crust about two feet down. 1 cm thick, P minus hard.
By brushing with my finger I could feel a distinct layer of weak, faceted snow under this crust. If there were facets above the crust, they were not as obvious.
ECTN 3 15cm down, twice. ECTX, twice. Pried column off and found a Q3 type shear.
In more drifted terrain right below the ridge I found foot-thick slabs easy to trigger by skiing above a skintrack.
No obvious signs of instability.
Did not ski this slope, though there were plenty of tracks on it.
More clouds than sun today. Calm with light gusts from South. Temp at 3:30 on top of FAA was 25F.

Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: