23-24

We rode from the bottom of Sawtelle over into Yale Creek. There was 5-7" of snow from last night and 14" of settled snow (2.0" SWE) from over the past week. Wind had formed thick drifts over the past week and was forming fresh drifts today. We did not see cracking in fresh drifts that we rode through. However, with new snow and wind-loading currently growing slabs, we expect avalanches breaking in the new snow and drifts are likely on steep slopes. In one snowpit we had ECTP13 on a thin layer of facets below the 14" of snow from over the last week. This could contribute to avalanches breaking under the weight of new snow and drifts as the slabs get larger. We did not see anything remarkable break on the weak layers deeper in the snowpack, but we are not trusting deeper weak layers during the ongoing loading this weekend, and we expect deeper avalanches are possible to trigger or could happen naturally.

Snow fell lightly all day with some heavier pulses, skies were overcast, and wind was light with moderate gusts from the west. We did not see any avalanches, but did not see much terrain due to limited visibility.

While touring in the Bacon Rind area today, our group experienced three audible collapses, one of which was extremely large and thundering. All of these collapses were experienced in the flat meadow areas below the typically skied slopes. 

The snow ranger crew was out in the Bridgers today.  The wind had just started picking up as we got out there and the 8-10" of new snow was really moving around.  We spent some time near Fairy Lake and then moved over towards the Throne.  By late afternoon there was lots of snow blowing through all of the bowls and down into the flats as well as heavy wind loading below the ridge top.  The new snow is on a fairly hard surface from last week's wind and warmth and we did spot a few storm snow avalanches coming off of Hard Scrabble.  As we left the Fairy Lake area we did notice several fresh slab avalanches along the ridge top and in the middle of the bowl between Naya Nuki and Sacajewea.  

Triggered by BBSP

Two obs - two days ago I was poking around Mosier Creek drainage.  Weird thing was that there was no wind impact - no drifts and snow was still on all the trees.  Other than that, super weak snowpack with lots of collapsing.  In fact at the lower elevations, snow pack was ~24" deep and my dog was breaking through all the way to the ground (she is about 60#)

This morning I was up in Bear Canyon - only about half the snow (4") as on the south side of town by SMS.  Pretty bullet proof layer under the new snow, but it seems it came in wet enough that it adhered well.  It wasn't even sluffing off at the break over points.  Snow was not done at that measurement as it was still dumping when I left around 6:30.

Climbing near the Silken Falls / Dribbles areas from 11:00 to 17:00, we observed strong winds throughout the day. HN was 7-12cm on valley floors, and as we passed the Dribbles on the approach we noted a 20-25cm stiff wind deposit near the base of the buttress was that 1F- in firmness.

Wind transport was intense throughout the day both in areas we traveled and visible plumes at alpine ridgelines with the amount of fresh snow available for transport —a photo will not do the experience justice. Due to the protected nature of the climbs we were on, it was hard to tell which direction winds were blowing from. We observed 15 to 45cm of snow in the gullies we traveled (N & NW facing, ~7600-8600'), with the average HS being 20cm. While there was limited wind stiffening at the surface of much of the snow in these gullies, wind slabs were not present in the areas we traveled. We did not travel to the very top of any gully system, so I cannot speak at length to the hazard at the upper reaches of this wall.

Looking out towards Divide Peak and the Divide Cirque at the end of the day, we noted 3 fresh crowns that were not present in the morning. These were D1 to D1.5 in size, breaking along the base of cliffs, and appeared to be wind slab avalanches from a brief peek through some glass. There was a lot of small loose dry activity that we observed across canyon at middle to upper elevations as you would expect with strong winds and fresh snow. All activity was in line with what one would expect given the forecast and weather inputs.