Snowpack Obs from Silver Peak

Nice tour from Squaw to Pole Creek today. The warm temps have had an impact on most slopes on the south side of Silver, roller balls and wet snow were evident as of 10am on a small, steep NE slope just above the parking lot on Poulsens/Silver (photo). Winds were picking up ahead of the incoming system, with a small amount of wind transport occurring at ridgeline. By midday the small, fresh wind slabs were a few inches thick. 

In the NE bowl of Silver we found great skiing on cold snow, and also had a chance to see the recent skier/rider triggered slab avalanche that was reported after the fact yesterday. I stopped for a moment above the crown on low angle terrain to have a closer look at the snowpack. An ECT indicated that failure along this layer is still possible (ECTP12~35cm down), see video. I also experienced a significant whump while skiing above the location of the avalanche, on ~25-30 degree terrain. This, coupled with the info from the quick pit indicate that the persistent weak layer is alive and well in this location.