Northern Bridgers, The Throne

We rode in and toured up the Throne. We dug a pit low, on a northeast aspect at 7,850' and the snow depth was 63cm (2 feet). We had an ECTP27 break on 2-4mm facets at the bottom of the snowpack.

We dug a second pit on the north-norheast facing slope above The Throne at 8,400'. Snow depth here was 95cm (3 feet). We found similar 2-4mm facets making up the bottom 45cm of the snowpack, but we had ECTX 3 times. We were surprised it didn't break or propagate. Despite these test scores, we figured recent snow, wind and a large skier triggered avalanche yesterday were signs to avoid steep slopes, especially if they are wind-loaded.

The sugary, weak facets we found may not yet be showing signs of widespread instability, but combined with more new or wind-drifted snow they could create larger avalanches.