Touchy Storm Slabs in N. Gallatin

We toured into some mid-elevation skiing in the N Gallatin on Wheeler Mountain. I was surprised that we weren't getting collapsing, given the recent loading, but, at the end of the day, I only heard one localized collapse.

The big message from the day was touchy surface conditions. When the storm abated in the afternoon, there was 9" of new snow. The most recent pulse of snow came in upside down, and we observed cracking in the top 9" every time we moved into slightly steeper terrain. We saw one R1-D1 natural avalanche on a ~35 degree slope (this was the steepest terrain we visualized today). The slide broke 15-20' wide and ran less than 50 feet. This storm slab instability will heal relatively quickly, but I expect to trigger D1 and 2 avalanches on most steep terrain today and maybe tomorrow. 

We tested the deeper weak layer with an ECT at the top of the meadows (ECTP25). Again, I was surprised by the lack of evidence of deeper instability. I wouldn't trust it until we get a few more data points and we get some visibility to assess avalanche activity.