Snow Observations List

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. 

West facing slope 9600' on Woody Ridge, North of the "Ozarks." Appeared to be new 1/29. Observed numerous older crowns and avalanches on all aspects throughout the day. Lots of whoomphing and collapsing, enough to shake small trees. Sorry the images arent great. 

A rider from MN triggered an avalanche immediately north of Round Lake. He was caught, pulled his airbag and was buried with his head out, under his sled. He attributes this to his airbag. His partners dug him out and he was uninjured.

Not much snow but I thought it may be worth noting that I saw alot of ice shedding off climbs at unnamed wall today and have heard reports of wet slides coming over climbs in the last couple days

We rode to the cabins in Fisher Creek and skied up Wades World. A slide from last week was visible and we dug a few hundred feet above it. A 70 cm wind slab broke on the facets in our stability test and also in the avalanche. We got 2 large collapses as we approached the crown of the slide and another an hour later near Henderson Mtn. On Henderson Bench we could see 2 new avalanches that looked fresh, possibly cornice triggered. It was not windy, so windloading was not the trigger. Regardless, it was disconcerting. Across the Fisher Creek valley we could see a slide on the nose of Sheep Mountain on the same slope that killed a snowmobiler in 2015.

Whumpfs yesterday and today, recent slides, and a poor snow structure is worrisome.

Natural Avalanches on Cedar Mtn. SE bowl. Occurred sometime between the 4pm on 1/28- 9am on 1/29. 

This avalanche released naturally on 1/29/2024. It was seen from the Miller Creek road and looks similar to all the other avalanches in the area.

Numerous collapses in any terrain with a non-wind effected snowpack over 70 cm. Recent warm weather leading to settlement of the upper pack and a much denser slab. 3x natural size 1 natural wet loose off palace butte in steep rocky terrain, which happened before noon. Below 8000 feet the snowpack was moist to the ground in the pm.

Skied and dug in the trees W of Bradley Meadows at 7690’. Ski quality was terrible as the upper 20cm was becoming very heavy and wet, even on this NW aspect, in the trees. It was 48 degrees air temp at 2pm.
Dug two pits, each with slightly different aspects, and got mixed results just 25’ away:

NW: ECTP25 down 55 on 2mm facets, ECTX x 1, HS of 85.

W: ECTP26 down 67 on 2mm facets, ECTX x 2, HS of 97. 

No other signs of instability, and there were quite a few skiers out, none of whom mentioned anything other than the poor ski quality. 

Observed collapsing and shooting cracks near top of meadows around 7700 feet. Dug a pit in this area as well. Snow was 80 cm deep. Our test yielded unstable results - ECTP 11 35cm down on the obvious surgery facets. Slab seemed to be stiffening with warmer temps. 

ECT P 7 at 7800ft and West-Northwest facing slope. Broke approx 6-8in from the top of the snow. A LOT of woofmping pretty much everywhere we went.

Heavy and wet snow from the top of the ridge down to the Bridger Bowl lot. Observed large pinwheels, old avy debris on 30 degree slopes. 2 finger facets 15cm down, depth hoar still intact and showed no signs of rounding. Shooting cracks underfoot while skinning.

We skied onto the debris of the Henderson Mountain avalanche. It went as wide as it could and broke under the dense wind slab on facets (not surface hoar). We dug in the flank at about 10,100' to confirm that it released on facets under a wind slab. Afterward we skied over to Daisy Pass and had numerous large, thunderous whumps, both there and back. At Daisy Pass/Chimney Rock avalanche (from 1/25) we had poor visibility and could not see the debris or paths. I skied out looking for signs, but decided that wandering in runout zones with no visibility was a bad idea, so we returned back to the sleds on Henderson Bench.