Wet snow instabilities

We skied into Frazier Basin from the Fairy Lake road. On north facing slopes the snow was dry. On south facing slopes there was a 1-2" melt freeze crust which was softening on southeast-south facing slopes around 11am-noon. Snow was generally dry below that crust, probably got a little more wet today than yesterday.

We saw a few natural wet loose avalanches run throughout the middle of the day in sunny, steep rocky terrain. There were at least 4 old, deeper avalanche crowns, most of which had been reported and occurred 1-2 weeks ago.

We dug a snowpit on a north facing slope at 8,300'. Snow depth was 140cm and there was weak depth hoar (4F hardness) 30-40cm above the ground, below a 2-3 foot deep hard slab. Compression tests broke on the depth hoar/facets at CT29 and CT(30+1), sudden collapse/Q1. 

Skies were partly cloudy in the morning and cleared with scattered clouds through the day. Wind was calm.