Skinning and digging a pit on Seymour

Skinned up the main trail, skied some open low angle slopes just past Brockton Point. Dug a pit on a South facing aspect at 1240 m. Total snow depth was 270 cm. Dug down to melt crust from late Nov. approx. 1m deep. Snow above crust was four finger to fist, right side up. Performed a compression test and had a result at 6 medium (from the elbow), fracture seen at 50 cm depth but block did not completely shear. Had another inconsistent result at 8 hard (from the shoulder) in which only half of the column sheared away. The first result was replicated above the pit with aggressive stomping on skis at same depth (50 cm). Boot pen. to thigh. Continued snowing heavily all day, snow on the road until 350 m ASL.