Snowpit on the Pint Glass - Weak layer at the bottom still active

Location Name: 
Pint Glass
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 16:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 31.1448" N, 119° 54' 19.1124" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

A layer of weak, sugary snow that was buried on Nov. 9th remains fragile in this area. I saw this layer on relatively sheltered N-NE aspects above 8600 ft in the PInt Glass area today. Snowpit tests indicate that if this layer starts to break the fracture could easily travel through this layer resulting in a large avalanche. Other snowpit tests show that this layer is hard to trigger. The take home message is that the right trigger in the right spot could cause this layer to break.  Overall new snow remains light and unconsolidated. Some small wind slabs do exist near the ridgeline in the area. A thin, breakable suncrust did form on the sun-exposed south aspects up to 9000' today.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: