Snow Observations List

With the inversion and warmer temperatures yesterday, we (group of 3) discovered a super saturated, cohesive snowpack in Hyalite on the approach to High Fidelity. On the first pitch, I narrowly avoided a point release wet loose, probably around D1-1.5. After this we decided to bail. On the rappel, my partner narrowly avoided another wet loose, which he estimated to be D1.5 and deep enough to bury a person past their chest. The sun was not out but the mountains were shedding and there was evidence of warming and wind, because the trees had no snow on them. We were able to make ~2.5 feet in diameter “cinnamon rolls” by rolling a snowball downhill. If you’re going to any of the more exposed climbs in Hyalite, be very mindful of overhead hazards and wet loose problems which you would not expect this time of year. 

Dave and I rode up Little Bear canyon to the cabin today . Strong SW winds had scoured most exposed areas near the cabin at 7500'. We also noticed clear wind drifting along the road. Off trail, the snowpack was supportable underfoot and we were not punching through to the ground. Temps were balmy at the truck, 45° when we left around 11am. 

From IG: "Isolated pockets on leeward slopes in the northern bridgers today… most on north facing couloirs. More prevalent down low where the snow was getting warm by 1pm. Base setting up nicely!"

We toured up to the prayer flags, digging a couple of hand pits to look at the snowpack structure on Tyler's before bumping over the ridge to dig a full pit in Spanky's. We did not ski down into Bear Basin, but others had done so. We returned out through Exit Chute and back to the car. 

The snowpack remains thin (20-25 inches of mostly unconsolidated base) and there were plenty of rocks and stumps to hit, but coverage was better than I expected (and probably better than most of December 2023). The structure was looking pretty good for early season. There were a few crust/ facet layers on west aspects, but nothing out of the normal. In our pit at the top of Spanky's (NE Facing at 9200'), there was a 10 cm layer of 4F facets at the base of the snowpack and some evidence of faceting throughout the older snow. However, the overall outlook is good for now. ECTN 14 at 41 cm and ECTN 19 and 21 at 19 cm. 

Primary concerns were the shallow snowpack (we traveled downhill very slowly) and wind slabs. On the drive toward Gallatin Canyon this morning, we saw large plumes of snow blowing off the high peaks. We didn't see evidence of recent wind transport on our tour, but I'd be watching out for it. 

Tons of wind transport all over Hyalite. Gullies were spindrift torrents most of the day. Ridge lines had plumes for most of the day too. Small wind slabs building in the upper Mummy gully, approximately 6"-8" thick at most and 1F to P hardness. Some localized cracking around our boots but nothing more.

Flew from Paradise Valley to Cody and saw large plumes of our snowpack moving off of the peaks and getting transported from strong winds which were more southerly in the western part of the range and westerly around Cooke. Evidence of heavy cross loading across Sheep mountain (pictures) and the whole range, I didn’t see any evidence of avalanche activity. 

Skinned up to the top of the Pierre's Knob lift and then up the Finger's Meadow, poking into top of the 1st Finger. Total snow depth was around a foot, or a little less, in the base area. Near our high point at ~7900ft, snow depths were around 18" to two feet. A snowpit on a north aspect in the top of the 1st Finger showed a "right-side-up" snowpack, with the softest snow at the surface, getting progressively harder are you go down. ECTX. A little bit of faceting was visible in the older snow, but it hadn't done much weakening. A quick hand pit on an east aspect in the Finger's Meadow showed a similar snowpack structure. Plenty of snow to trigger a slide, but still a very thin snowpack with buried rocks remaining a huge hazard.

No avalanches or other signs of instability observed. Snowed lightly but consistently all morning, with an additional inch accumulating by the time we returned to the car.

Toured up to Blackmore NE Ridge, about 200 feet from the summit Tuesday. Mix of sun and clouds. very cold, light to no winds. fresh blown snow was over 1' deep up high and felt very stable. We did not notice any wind slabs though it had been windy overnight, the N.W face of elephant was completely scoured almost down to rock. Some small cornices forming on the ridge with the slightest wind skin in some places. snowpack was around 3' deep on the lee (E) side.

Two obvious layers. sun crust layer with a foot of wind blown on top. top layer failed while isolating column for pit test. photos are from a video that i cannot attach. it just shows the two layers. i tried to preform the test to the left but it failed prior to any taps. 

From IG: “(Photos) From a slide on the south side of October bowl today“

Dug a snow pit on a northern aspect at Bridger Bowl around 7800ft of elevation. Snow depth ranged from 45-50cm. Had a very reactive CT 2 on the most recent snow layer around 25cm deep in the snow measured from the ground up. Attempted a hasty ECT before we lost sunlight but did not get propagation. There was visible wind loading on upper elevations as well.

I skied all three meadows at History Rock this morning. The recent storms have done good things, and there is no longer a mix of snow and dirt, but around 3-9 inches of new snow in Hyalite. Winds were surprisingly light, mostly of of the south, and snowfall fluctuated between light and moderate, with a total of 2-3 inches of new snow on my car after several hours of skiing (it was good). The new snow didn't seem to be bonding great to the underlying crust, but I saw no bullseye signs of instability.

Party of three made our way into Beehive Basin up to near the bottom of 4th of July Couloir. Noted strong winds blowing from the south southwest (up the canyon) Saw shooting cracks up to 8 feet out skinning up a boulder pile on a east facing aspect, (picture my friend took). Snowpack still to shallow to confidently ski any of the upper couloirs. Further down in the canyon on the short grassier slopes snowpack was reasonably dense and stable with a weak crust layer under 8-10 inches of the light fluffy stuff, snow depth up to 2 feet in select spots. Friend reported hearing one small whumph breaking trail up to the ridge on a convex roll. Skied out the entire slope with 10ish other people and didn't see any other signs of instability.

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. 

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. 

My partner and I climbed Twin Falls in Hyalite (it's fat). Snowfall ended mid-morning and I estimated 4-5" of new at the base of the climb (~7,500'). The wind was not blowing and there was 12-18" on the ground. The new snow bonded well to the old snow and I did not see any facets or depth hoar forming in the old snow.

There were lots of skiers heading up the Grotto Falls trail and Mt. Blackmore, so hopefully you'll get more info from them.

Toured through divide basin to divide peak this morning. Snow in the basin around 130cm based on ski pole penetration however the peak itself only had about 35cm where we dug a pit on a SW slope. The new snow was sitting on a sun crust about an inch thick that was very hard to break and took a solid punch with my fist to break. Underneath the crust was all sugary facets sitting on rock. Semi-Poor skiing

We found 3-4 inches of new snow while touring up Bridger and accessing the ridge via patrol chute. The new snow was on a hard crust to the ground that had not bonded yet and we observed some cracking in isolated wind affected regions. The East wind on the ridge last night formed cornices in unusual spots up high, and there was minimal cornice growth on the Eastern (normal) edge of the ridge. We skied hidden gully that had small storm slabs that propagated at our ski tips and only ~3inches in depth. The snow within Hidden was not wind affected and actually made for some great skiing further down in the couloir! 

Myself and three others toured up to 8260 ft on the Ramp this morning. Down low on Alpine wind gusts from the W were strong but as we ascended winds diminished and I didn't notice wind effect or slab formation on the snow on the Ramp up to where we turned around. Temps were in the 20s and visibility was minimal from the Ramp with a Bridger Bowl cloud hanging over us. The snow depth on the Ramp was about 50 cm deep from the top of Bradley's to 8260 ft. Snow depths varied at the top of Bradley's ranging from more scoured areas (30 cm) to previously wind drifted areas up to 85 cm. The new snow surface from the naked eye looked to be a mix of wind broken particles and rimed stellars. Early season hazards still abound but the skiing was surprisingly very pleasant!