Buried surface hoar in northern Gallatin

We looked at the snowpack at lower elevations in the northern Gallatin Range (SE aspect, 8,300' elev.) and found a layer of buried surface hoar below last week's snow that was reactive in stability tests (ECTP20, ECTP22). There was also weak, sugary snow through the bottom half of the snowpack that should be kept in mind, especially where the snowpack is relatively shallow. Triggered one small, isolated collapse on a west facing slope around 7,500' where the snowpack was mostly 1-2' deep weak facets, and we found one small pocket that had a drift over the weak snow. The buried surface hoar below last week's snow makes large avalanche possible to trigger for at least a few days.