24-25

Snowboarders in the northern Bridger Range found a thin snowpack with wind slabs layered on wind slabs. Photo: Z. Bailey

Snowboarders in the northern Bridger Range found a thin snowpack with wind slabs layered on wind slabs. Photo: Z. Bailey

From obs: "I’ve been skiing the Erma Road recently. Good conditions for a quick ski up the road by but it’s thin off the road. The 616 trail is too treacherous for my comfort zone. I think the Republic Creek alpine valley must be skiable though. Quick observation:a sun crust formed in the open areas on the road and on adjacent areas."

Winds were relentless! Enough to quickly fill bootpack of partners no more than 50 ft in front of me, clear signs of loading.
Snow ranged from a dusting over rocks to some consistent 30-55 cm ribbons of deeper drifted veins of snow. Deepest pocket found was around 65/70cm.

Main recipe found was a growing stout wind slab on top of an older wind slab above some earlier season snow that was barely starting to facet at the base. No propagation on ECT but could change as the weight builds, very obvious slab development.

Ride slow and safe as rocks and thin snow are the greatest hazards present, plus the brutal winds. 
 

You CAN drive to the fairy lake parking, but 4x4 and great tires are mandatory. Remember to park with sufficient space for vehicles to pass up and/or down the road. 

Encountered a 6-8" old, unreactive windslab in Comet Alley yesterday. NE Aspect, ~8300'. Couldn't find a weak layer beneath it. Overall, the snowpack felt fairly homogenous on this aspect in this area.

We skinned around hyalite basin today following the snowfall from last night. In the Basin, we found new snow varying from 8-12 inches. As visibility pushed us away from Hyalite peak, we skinned east towards overlook and dug a pit on a W/SW slope at 9100 feet. We found roughly 80cm snow with a small crust layer at 50cm as well as facets forming on the ground. While we had no propagation in our ECT, the facets forming will be something to watch over the next week with cold temps. No natural avy activity observed with the minimal visibility in the area other than some new snow sluffs on steeper terrain below ridge lines. 

Thin storm slabs in the entrance to Hidden Gully. Photo: M. Beck

Small storm slabs in Hidden Gully. Photo: M. Beck

Inch thick crust on SW slope in Divide Basin. Photo: C. Daniels