Inverted AST 1

Our AST 1 crew hung out on Fraser ridge just above the inversion for the day. -20 at the highway -13 above 1300m. Several...and I mean several profiles dug at upper TL revealed 100cm of snow. A soft slab sits above 25cm of well developed basal facets at these elevations. The crust that was associated with these facets had all but deteriorated where we dug. We got no significant results in snowpack tests on this layer. I suspect this is largely due to the lack of hardness in the slab above and an inability to transfer energy to the weak layer. But what do I know? The 80cm slab above just compressed and broke apart as loading steps where delivered. The upper snowpack changes rapidly to dust of windboard as you move into exposed areas. I was expecting whumpfing in these areas but the new wind hammered surfaces seem to be bridging the facets below quite well.