Snow Observations List

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.

From obs: "Toured into a north facing chute at around 9800 ft. Found a thick stubborn wind slab near the ridge that was difficult to trigger and did not really move a whole lot. In the middle of the chute I found a 6 in thick softer wind slab. There was a lot of variability in the snow throughout the upper elevations, and signs of active top and cross loading with gusty, swirling winds."

I went for a quick lap up PK today. Considering my car said 7 degrees Celsius in the parking lot, I was surprised by how soon I ran into dry surface snow on my way up. In sheltered areas approx 7000ft and higher I found 5-10 cm dry snow on a mostly supportive crust on N through E aspects. I didn't closely observe other aspects. At mid-elevations (~7300-7700) winds were moderate with moderate snow transport. Above and below this I experienced light winds and saw evidence of previous wind transport. I travelled to just above PK (~7950).

Dug a quick pit on a NE asp around 7800 ft, and found a mostly right-side-up snowpack with an HS of 40cm. Skiing was enjoyable, if not a bit anxiety-inducing when I ventured off the main runs.

Ian and I drove up the Langhor Road in Hyalite Canyon in order to access the upper meadows of History Rock. We wrapped around and intersected with the trail in the mid-elevation meadows. Snow depths varied from 0" to 18." We toured into the middle of the three ski meadows before stopping to assess how the season's thin snowpack is evolving. The snowpack has a relatively simple, three layer structure. The lowest layer is beginning to show signs of weakening (faceting). However, the foundation of the snowpack was looking pretty good for now. ECTX. While we are optimistic for now, the snowpack is thin and can change quickly this time of year. There was evidence of wind in the History Rock area, this has likely built wind-slabs at higher elevations and more open terrain. 

The critical piece of information is that at mid to upper elevations the ground is mostly covered and we have a layered snowpack. We will stay tuned to how the snowpack evolves and how well subsequent storms bond to what we have on the ground. 

Toured up into the Blackmore/Elephant basin today to get a sense of the snowpack ahead of the upcoming storm cycle. I poked around and dug in a few spots, trying to observe variations in snow depth and to observe where the snow has been faceting. Every pit I dug, ranging from N to SE facing, had faceting near the ground, all of which reacted in stability tests, if stubbornly. The most interesting test result was an ECTP21 in this layer of basal facets. That pit was dug in a large wind drift. I saw no propagation in any other pit or test.

Strong wind gusts were moving large amounts of snow in the alpine, while below treeline they did not exceed moderate speeds and wind transport was non existent. Large drifts were present on lee slopes, while more exposed windward slopes had little to no snow.

Otherwise the snowpack has behaved as one would expect. Solar aspects and exposed flats have a 2-3cm thick sun crust on the surface, and a further complex of crusts throughout the shallow snow pack. Snow depth ranged from 0 - 100 cm throughout the basin, and was generally thinner on solar aspects. Pretty bad skiing all around, not excluding the rock gardens on the skinner out.

Dug a small pit on NW aspect at about 9100 and saw about 5cm of faceting right on the dirt and got ECTP22 on that layer. Some surface hoar present but mostly melted off. 

From obs: "6-18" of coverage most areas in the Flanders drainage

Warming temperatures early in the afternoon were sending significant wet sloughs down Bobo and Big Sleep as witnessed from across the valley

Warming temperatures were creating perfect wet snow conditions for impressively large pinwheels on steeper solar aspects." 

Quick loop on the sleds around Black Canyon. 50 cm (~20 inches) of snow at 8000'. Good layer of surface hoar on top, and the upper part of the snowpack is starting to facet. Non-issue for now with snow coming this week that could double the snowpack. 

South facing slopes have some damp snow.

I made it up to an old crown in a north-facing chute around Fairy Lake at around 9400 ft; it broke the night of 11/6 or the morning of 11/7. It looked like a wind slab that broke on a rotten layer of facets intermixed with scree. Found facets to be fairly widespread through the bottom of the snowpack on the north-facing slopes and surface hoar on most nonsolar slopes. 

Early season conditions. At 8000' just below the Sacajawea trail bowl, there is about 9" of snow. In the trail bowl, winds moved that snow around and there is nice firm, supportable (ie - not hitting rocks) snow. 
 

Warm weather really settled the snow and it became damp today on many sun exposed slopes. It stayed dry and cold on high north. 
 

Overall, the things seem quite stable, even though there may be a wind slab or two that could still avalanche. 
 

From text: “50cm of snow on an east facing slope in beehive. Got ectp12 breaking at the ground, same result 2 times. Ct2 at the ground as well. Stayed out of the steeps today, some funky skiing with the heat up this afternoon.”

On 20241107 I observed a small natural avalanche from the top of the PK lift at Bridger Bowl. The slide occurred  near the Slushman’s lift on a NNE aspect. It started as a small release in the upper start zone and entrained much of the snow in the couloir down to the ground. L-N-D1.5- G. 

Avalanche occurred after the start zone had come into the sun for a few minutes. The rest of the path was in the shade.

Wind speed at 11am 24mph gusting to 28mph on Bridger Ridge. Sky Clear. Temp 26F.

It was a relatively small slide but had enough power to carry a skier or rider through some very nasty terrain. Similar aspect and elevation to the Super Couloir slide. 

Wind sculpting observed along thunder road at Bridger Bowl.

Small surface hoar. On a 18” base depth snowmaking snow. North Face, above creek, elevation 7571’ toe of ambush ski slope. 

From IG message: "Hey the post of super jogged my memory to send you this, a friend and I had whumpfing and cracks while skinning up the trees in the apron yesterday [11/6], we dug a pit and got an ect 4 collapse against the rocks. We were about halfway up the apron when we took this."

From IG Message: “(Avalanche) Spotted in Super Couloir”

From IG Message: “Skier triggered Pocket in super couloir. Wasn't very unexpected, the skiers left side felt a little slabbier than the skiers right and tried to stay off it but got blinded by a sick face shot. Triggered going over a sharky rock spot, not very fast moving and easy to ski out of. Snow depth was 2-2.5 feet”

From IG Message: “Hey guys - my partner broke off a small avalanche in super couloir today… broke full depth across half the couloir, 2-3’ deep/20’ wide and looked like it ran around 500’. No one was caught. He might message you with pictures too but here’s a video from the top”

Saw debris from several small natural avalanches below the ridge on an east aspect south of saddle peak while driving up to bridger. Most looked like point releases but there was one that might have been a small slab. Unsure because the light wasn't right to tell if there was a crown.

We stayed low but found a pretty uniform snowpack other than a couple of spots with sun crusts.

There was also tons of snow blowing over the ridge when we left around 3pm.

45.8305, -110.9307, 7840’, NW aspect, 23°

ECTN3 failing on 3cm layer of 2mm buried facets at the ground. HS 65cm. 

SE aspect hand pit has much more favorable conditions due to the lack of faceted old snow. Snow near the ground was still moist.