Dig on the way up to Mt. Blackmore on a W aspect at 8000’. Snow was pretty shallow (130cm) for the area. Noticed the dust layer underneath the most recent snow. Had unremarkable pit results. ECTN11 on the dust layer being the most notable. Saw a couple of small wind slabs and intentionally triggered one on a small rollover. Definitely a good bit of active transport going on out there.
Toured up Mt Ellis from Bear Canyon. I was surprised at how non-wind affected the snow was after yesterday's strong winds from E-W. Cornice buildup on the ridge was minimal, soft snow was still on the surface, and the trees along the ridge to the summit still held snow. I dug a quick pit on a NE aspect at 8260', looking for buried surface hoar and/or near surface facets. Found about 8" of fresh snow on top of a right-side-up snowpack. ECTX. About 2.5' down, I found rounding facets. While I may not have found persistent weak layers in my snow pit, I suspect there are locations where SH/NSF are still preserved. Dig down and see what is going on underneath your feet, before committing to any steep slopes.
Toured into the north Gallatin today and skied on north facing terrain. Saw obvious loading in the new snow up high on the ridge lines, but no recent natural avalanches. We encountered several debris piles that were covered by new snow, probably from a few days ago and likely wind slabs based on the terrain. Skiing, we triggered 3 wind slabs (ss-d1-r1) on a north west facing slope at around 7800’, each ran the entirety of the face. Notably, one of the slabs propagated above the skier and about 20-25 ft to the right. Skiing a north east slope (slightly more sheltered), no signs of instability were observed. We didn’t observe a weak layer underneath the most recent new snow, but we did see a layer of dust and crust deeper in the pack.
Toured into the north Gallatin today and skied on north facing terrain. Saw obvious loading in the new snow up high on the ridge lines, but no recent natural avalanches. We encountered several debris piles that were covered by new snow, probably from a few days ago and likely wind slabs based on the terrain. Skiing, we triggered 3 wind slabs (ss-d1-r1) on a north west facing slope at around 7800’, each ran the entirety of the face. Notably, one of the slabs propagated above the skier and about 20-25 ft to the right. Skiing a north east slope (slightly more sheltered), no signs of instability were observed. We didn’t observe a weak layer underneath the most recent new snow, but we did see a layer of dust and crust deeper in the pack.
I went skate skiing up Sourdough Canyon today. The trail intersects many south and southwest-facing avalanche terrains that generally do not have much snow coverage due to their exposure to the sun.
However, the snowpack is much deeper than normal in the Gallatin Valley and in the low-elevation mountains around the Valley, and these slopes make me nervous, especially because they would impact a trail that sees heavy use by people who do not intend to expose themselves to avalanches and who are not prepared for avalanche rescue.
I went skate skiing up Sourdough Canyon today. The trail intersects many south and southwest-facing avalanche terrains that generally do not have much snow coverage due to their exposure to the sun.
However, the snowpack is much deeper than normal in the Gallatin Valley and in the low-elevation mountains around the Valley, and these slopes make me nervous, especially because they would impact a trail that sees heavy use by people who do not intend to expose themselves to avalanches and who are not prepared for avalanche rescue.
I went skate skiing up Sourdough Canyon today. The trail intersects a significant amount of south and southwest-facing avalanche terrain that generally does not have much snow coverage due to exposure to the sun.
However, the snowpack is much deeper than normal in the Gallatin Valley and in the low-elevation mountains around the Valley, and these slopes make me nervous, especially because they would impact a trail that sees heavy use by people who do not intend to expose themselves to avalanches and who are not prepared for avalanche rescue.
Currently, 2.5 to 4 feet of snow is in the terrain near the trail.
These slopes WILL probably avalanche when:
We get the first sunny, warm day.
They MIGHT avalanche when:
We get another big storm.
People or animals traverse or choose to ski above the trail and inadvertently trigger a slide.
What you should do:
Recognize that ALL steep, snow-covered terrain (30 degrees plus) has avalanche potential.
If you choose to recreate in abnormal locations, there may be abnormal considerations and consequences--there are families, kids, and dogs below you.
SO, Be cautious and respectful of other users. One good way to do this is to AVOID traveling in avalanche terrain above unsuspecting travelers.
At the base of G2 I triggered a 3 inch x 100 foot soft slab. I was surprised how far it propagated. It looked like it failed on a density change under the morning's new snow. 40 feet up on the first large bench we triggered another slide, 6 inches deep, the entire width of the bench. It could have pushed a climber off if they were in the middle of it. It was snowing steady (1"/hr) and wind was minimal, but a few hours later we could see plumes higher up in the gullies.
It had such zip to the propagation that I'm thinking it might take a day for it to not be reactive. There was no way we wanted to get on anything open and steep.
