Maverick Mountain - West Pioneers

Tour up Maverick Mountain before they open for the season to check how the snowpack is shaping up in the Pioneers; snowpack representative of backcountry. Got a Christmas eve gift when 6-8 inches of maverick 'white thunder' (+/- 5% density) fell overnight adding 30-50% to the total depth of snow. Dug quick pit on SE aspect 8100 feet and there is about 12-16 inches of low density snow with poles and skis going to ground. Dug a little higher on NE aspect 8200 feet where the snowpack is about twice as deep; about 2 feet plus and has a soft-ish slab in the mid-pack. We performed stability tests. ECTP12 10cm off ground. Softer slab on top of loose faceted snow on top of a hard crust made for propagation in the extended column test results. Surprisingly no collapsing and minimal, very localized cracking right around the skis. Ski quality greatly exceeded expectations!