Public Observation - Hard force persistent slab on Skook Ridge

Location Name: 
Public Observation - Skookaleel Ridge, Southern Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 02/21/2017 - 13:00
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

With 40cm of new snow from the last cycle, we were primarily interested in the interface of the new snow/extra-hondo-rain-crust. That gave us a few unremarkable collapses, primarily between the two layers of storm snow (CT1 Q3 10cm down, CT21 Q3 10cm down). However, we were surprised to see that as entered hard force land, a persistent layer of facets broke off way down our column (CT25 Q3 110cm down). Nothing within the storm snow propgated in our tests or while we were touring (ECTN 12 Q3 2 and 15), and the overall result was ECTX with regards to our lower layer of trouble. However, one more hard hit was enough to get propogation across the whole column (ECTP* 31 Q1 SP 110cm down). And thus we found a bit of a lunker. 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm (No air motion)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
Activity: 
Skiing
Precip Rate: 
S2; moderate snowfall, 2cm/hour