Observations and Snowpit on Mt Shasta

My partner and I were able to make it up to Bunny Flat enroute to the Old Ski Bowl weather station for repairs. It was snowing and blowing like crazy all day, and in just a few hours, our tracks were completely filled in. Visibility was very poor, from complete whiteout conditions to 1/8 mile. Rapid snow accumulation and very windy conditions was making for HIGH avalanche danger on steeper slopes above. We were not able to view any of that. Slab properties were very good in above treeline areas, and mixed below treeline. Photos show one compression test with easy failure 20cm down in the snowpack at a density change. A couple propagation saw tests resulted in slab fracture both before and after 50% of the cut block length. One extended column test did not produce notable results. Moderate to hard failures were instigated below the pencil hardness crust, the first one you'll hit when digging in the snowpack, about 20-30 cm down from the surface, now much deeper. A rapid load on this snowpack structure could cause failure in a number of areas... old/new snow interface, below the crust or within the new snow. It's a simple problem of a lot of snow and a lot of wind in a short period of time. The avalanche danger is expected to sit at considerable to high for the next several days. And no, we were not able to figure out what is going on with the Old Ski Bowl weather station. :(