23-24

Toured up bacon rind today (12/20) with the idea of skiing off Ernest Miller ridge. Temps were above freezing when we left the trailhead and up to 9000’. On our approach we had several collapses with cracks up to 15’ out. We found a HS of 50cm and had mixed results in our pit. We stayed in the glades below the ridge, the skiing and riding was quite good. Exiting the basin was a bit sporty with minimal snow coverage. 

We were surprised by the abundant signs of instability nine days after the last measurable snow in Cooke City.

We toured up Republic Creek today towards Woody Ridge. When moving through fresh snow or stepping off the skin track, we felt many localized collapses. Near the top of the ridge, we felt a large collapse. Our stability tests showed worse test scores than expected, ECTP11. The bottom 55 cm of the snowpack was faceted and weak, on top of this was a slab that formed with early December storms. Collapsing, poor structure, and low stability test scores kept us out of avalanche terrain.

Alex was in Cooke City on Sunday and observed signs of instability and poor snowpack structure (Read his observations HERE). The poor structure and instability is more wide spread than we initially thought, and has not noticibly improved. 

Toured into the southern Lionhead today. Yesterday’s warm weather made the snowpack more moist, and the upper snowpack was much more cohesive than in days past. Snow was glopping on skis and skins up to around 9k. I got on NE, E, and SE aspects, which were quite reactive, with more wumphs than in the last few days.