RMP/ Prospect

Prospect Basin, at 11,800' on a north facing slope near treeline. Triggered two loud whumphs while breaking trail uphill, which were heard and felt by skiers over 100 yards away. Digging showed a thin 5cm thick layer of large facets (2.0mm) above the ground, fist hardness. The rest of the snowpack was a soft (4F) slab. Hand shear tests produced easy, Q1 results on this basal facet layer. This area is steep, N facing, and sparsely treed, so early season snow may have lingered here and produced this thin, well developed basal facet layer. We did not find any signs of instability on the rest of our tour, nor did we find this thin basal facet layer in other types of terrain.