Snow Observations List

Went snowmobiling/skiing below White Peak. We saw older crowns down low in the meadows. While skinning up a mellow south facing nose off white peak, we dug down and got a ECTP15 2.5 feet below the surface. About 8-10 inches of snow fell throughout the day up high. As we continued to skin up higher, we observed numerous collapses before we decided to call it a day. We observed that aspects without a crust layer from this week were more reactive, although we saw propagation on solar aspects with a defined crust as well. 

From email: "Temp 27. 4'' new snow, Rate S1, Sky OVC. NE aspect, SE winds, L  observed localized drifting. Elevation 7790’. conducted several CT tests scored CTM and CTH (SC)  ECTP 21, NE of Two Top on a layer of SH 35cm from surface. New snow on a melt freeze crust very reactive CTE 15cm from surface. Possible new layer of concern as new snow accumulates. No recent avalanches observed."

120 cm HS, OVC, E aspect, 6" new snow, -4c air temp, 14 deg. incline, blowing snow: none. ECTP 22 at 101 cm

Went up Lick Creek today with the intention of getting out in the new snow and doing some digging. We dug a couple pits on a north aspect at the top of the meadow at 8064' in an area of wind drifted snow. We observed propagation in both pits up 25cm on a faceted layer. HS 64cm, ECTP21, CT17 Q2. Skiing on the SE aspect was very thin but decent on a firm supportable crust formed during last week's warmer temps. 

North of sawtelle peak between sawtelle and Bootjack. General observations of surprisingly low snowpack. Traveled from red rock parking lot to flats to Bootjack then south toward sawtelle then east to the flats and back north to red rock parking. The northern area had on average 6-10 inches, the southern area had 12-15 inches. Elevations were between 6300 and 7200 feet. Aspects were mostly NW to N to NE to E.

After riding around in Miller zone rode up towards the east Crown Butte avalanche from this week to take a look!

Dug near the old cabin structure HS 100cm -140cm  in area

210  deg aspect, @ 9380 ' on a 10deg slope

HS 110cm, ECTP28 on 3-4mm facets 20 cm up from ground. 

Notes: solars and low elevation slopes formed a thin breakable crust over the last three days, under the crust in many places is a thin layer of faceting snow on top of a hard slab. 

From email on 2/2/24:  "We received a call of a missing snowmobile in the Keg Springs area of Island Park at 1642.  The missing snowmobiler arrived at 1800 hours at the rental property his party is staying at and said he had self-extricated from an avalanche."

I drove up Bridger canyon this afternoon and stopped in a few spots to glass the range for recent avalanches. There were many recent wet avalanches, both wet loose that gouged through the snowpack and wet slabs about one foot deep and 50-100' wide. Many size D2, some smaller. Happened sometime between Monday and today (1-3 days old, maybe some this morning). The main spots for recent wet avalanches were on Bridger Peak and south of the Throne. Mainly on sustained steep terrain with rocky outcrops and east-south facing. There was one wet slab on a northeast facing, mid-elevation slope near the Throne. South facing terrain near Fairy Lake had some wet loose activity. I attached a photo of the wet slab activity on Bridger Peak and south of the Throne.

I also saw a wide crown in Frazier Basin and a similarly wide crown in another bowl to the north (300-400' wide). Photos attached. I am not sure if these occurred recently with the above freezing temperatures or if they are older. they do not appear wet like the others, but I could not see the debris and was generally far away. Also they are in higher terrain favored for cooling effects. But, they easily could have occurred over the recent hot days, potentially triggered by cornice fall?

We rode into Taylor Fork today towards the Beaver Creek wilderness boundary. We saw multiple natural avalanches that happened during the last week, some newer than others and ranging in size (some in gullies others 50-75' wide). Many of these avalanches were old enough to be unrelated to the recent warming. However, at the wilderness boundary on an east-facing slope, we saw one natural wet slab avalanche and several smaller wet loose avalanches that likely happened yesterday during the warm sunny weather. 

We felt a large collapse while approaching our snowpit location on an east-facing slope at 9300'. The pit was mostly faceted snow capped by a small cohesive slab and crust. We got an ECTP2, which is a very unstable result. We continued riding and after parking felt another collapse just 20' from our snowmobiles. We dug on a southwest-facing slope at 8800' and again had poor stability test results of ECTP6. Facets near the ground were moist but our stability tests were failing on dry facets above. 

Clouds began rolling in around 11 AM, and a strong southwest wind remained throughout the day. Almost all slopes had a crust on them and temperatures remained cold enough that they did not soften. 

Lots of collapsing and whomping in the snow,  3 avalanches seen in hell roaring creek and performed a few snow pit tests with an ECTP21 with 2 failures at 25 cm and 70 cm. 

From email: "Some natural wet loose and PWL avalanches that happened yesterday, 01/30/2024, in Sheep Creek (observed today). Less collapsing today also."

Today we rode along Buck Ridge through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Yellowmule, McAtee Basin and into the head of Bear Creek. We saw numerous dry slab avalanches that broke over the last 10 days. Some of these slides were on small gully walls and some broke a hundreds of feet wide and ran a couple hundred vertical feet. 

We also saw a number of natural wet slab avalanches that broke yesterday or the day before. There were at least five of these slides on Cedar Mtn and one in Third Yellowmule. There were also many recent wet loose avalanches.

We dug a snowpit on a SE facing slope at 9500 ft near the head of Bear Creek. The snowpack was only two feet thick here. 1/2 slab - 1/2 facets. At noon, the top 3" were wet and it was moist to the ground. We got ECTP3 and ECTPV test results on the top of the facets. These are very unstable results. As we were leaving our snowpit we got the whole slope to collapse, at least 50 feet out. This shows that we were already primed for wet slabs and there were still many more hours of sunshine and heat to deteriorate conditions as the afternoon went on.

Toured up to the south side of Bell Lake near treeline. Found sugary facets with the smallest sun crust on top, but generally less heat impact than in other areas. The snow above treeline was cold and preserved into a large slab. 

I heard two large whumpfs once I got into a clearing around the treeline.

Three large old naturals were spotted on east faces.

Dug a pit on a NE facing slope at around 9,207ft. The surface did not appear to be loaded relative to the rest of the area, but wind impact was noted, 140cm deep snowpack. CT11Q2 50 cm up, ECTP19 60 cm up. The structure was condescended basal ice with a layer of depth hoar that increased in softness as the distance from the bottom increased. Between 40-50cm was a reactive layer of fist facets, and between 50-55cm was a pencil/knife crust, with another layer of fist facets above. The slab was a 1F hard slab that was consistent in structure from 60cm to the top of the snowpack. The slab seemed to be formed by multiple wind events as there where multiple slabs stacked up with no weak layer in between.  

This avalanche occurred between noon and 4pm on Tuesday, 30 January. It was likely snowmobile trifggered. An adjacent path went naturally on Friday, 26 January.

Driving up Bridger Canyon we saw wet loose avalanche across the whole range that ran yesterday afternoon (1/29). Some of these slides appear to have gouged down to the ground, entraining the whole season's snowpack.

We sledded into Fairy Lake, parked, and skinned up to the ridgeline overlooking Frazier Basin. An older, previously reported slide that broke widely was still visible in October Bowl. There were numerous wet loose avalanches on the south facing wall of Frazier, many of which appear to have pulled out dry slabs lower in the path as they ran yesterday afternoon. 

There was a firm refreeze on all slopes this morning. We dug on a NE and SE aspect at 8800 ft and got unstable test results on both aspects (ECTP22 and ECTP12) breaking 1-2 ft deep on the surface hoar/facets from December. The snowpack was 100% dry on the shady slope and only the top 3" was wet on the sunny slope at 1 pm. Was able to push the top couple inches of wet snow downhill on steep rollovers as we descended. 

It was ~60 degrees when we returned to the parking lot at 2:30 pm. 

Good views today of upper elevation alpine terrain north of Cooke City. Snow remained cold on all aspects will late in the day above 9500'. The exception was steep west and south-facing terrain that had many small point releases. These were multiple loose wet avalanches on the west side of Scotch Bonnet, each of the Rasta Chutes had debris in them and looked recent, probably this afternoon. Just north of the Rastas, we saw a crown of an avalanche, whether that was recent or not was difficult to tell. 

Over 15 slides spotted on our ride today. Both large and small. Mostly south facing slopes with a large one on a north facing slope. Several hills with visible cracking and ready to let loose. 

Spotted a recent natural avalanche on a south-southeast aspect on Mineral Mountain from Cooke City. I assume this was a wet slab avalanche. I can see roller balls and possible small wet loose slides on similar aspects with binoculars. 

Observed quite a few avalanches at the head of Republic Valley today. D1-D2. Range. Looked to be 2-3 days old on various aspects. primarily North-Northwest facing.

attached a few photos. Did not get a good shot of The headwall off Republic peak but that had also slid

We spent the last two days riding in the Centennial Mountains. We had limited visibility for spotting avalanches but we did catch sight of one slide on a steep slope above Yale Creek. 

There were fewer in-your-face signs of instability, such as the avalanches, shooting cracks, and collapsing, which were a staple of conditions last week. However, when we dug deeper (get it), we found the ingredients for a human-triggered avalanche in every snowpit we explored. All failed and propagated on the surface hoar or near surface facets buried 1-2 feet deep, with results varying from ECTV to ECTP21 indicating human-triggered avalanches are likely. 

I told my riding partners that, in some ways, I am more worried about people triggering avalanches this week than last because last week, incredibly obvious signs of instability and avalanche warnings largely kept people out of avalanche terrain. This week, the feedback is not as clear, and folks may get tempted by steeper slopes. Our recommendation is to play the long game. Persistent weak layers demand persistent patience. Our best tool to have safe and enjoyable days in the mountains remains conservative terrain selection and sticking to slopes less than 30 degrees.