Toured up Tenderfoot Ridge to 3100′. We dug a pit at 2400′ and at 3100′, both on a northwest aspect. We found a thinner, weaker snowpack than what is on the ground in Turnagain Pass and Girdwood. The main concern is a layer of advanced facets that formed associated with the New Year’s crust. These were anywhere from 2-3′ deep in our pits, and gave some propagating results, with the column popping right out of the pit wall. In our upper pit, the snowpack was capped with a pencil-hard wind slab, making for a concerning setup looking ahead.
We did not see any fresh avalanche activity from within the past 24 hours, but we did notice some rollerballs on steep southerly slopes below rocks and trees in the afternoon.