Sluffing new snow

Sluffing new snow

Date
Activity
Skiing

We traversed the ridge south from the Bridger Bowl ski area boundary to Bridger Peak, descended a NE aspect and skinned/traversed back to the ski area boundary. Moderate west winds weren't transporting a significant amount of snow (much of the west side of the ridge was already scoured bare and the remaining snow was already hardened). The sun and clouds were in and out through the day and there were even a few snow flurries, but no accumulation.

Wind Slab avalanches were our primary concern today, but we did not see any as we traversed the ridge and the new snow we encountered was not cohesive.

Dry Loose avalanches (sluffs) ended up being the biggest hazard we encountered. The new snow (approximately 8") was easily sluffing over last weeks crust and was entraining significant volume and running far in steep terrain. It had plenty of power to knock you over or into trees/rocks. 

We saw no slab avalanches or signs of instability.

Region
Bridger Range
Location (from list)
Bridger Peak
Observer Name
Ian Hoyer