Northern Gallatin

From obs 2/26/22: "Massive overhangs above Hidden Lakes but very minimal activity" Photo: G. Edwards 

Massive overhangs above Hidden Lakes but very minimal activity 

From obs. 2/26/22: "This is a slide that was triggered today at Mt. Blackmore. Nobody was hurt...”

Text to Alex, “Hey Alex, this is Jack Shonka, the MSU undergrad who was doing undergrad research last spring. This is a slide that was triggered today at Mt. Blackmore. Nobody was hurt but pretty wild!”

From email 2/22/22: "I did a loop around Alex Lowe and Blackmore today...There was a 5-10mph breeze near ridgelines, and other places were dead calm...I noticed a number of small to medium natural sloughs, some of which could have had the power to knock someone over." Photo: S. Reinsel

I did a loop around Alex Lowe and Blackmore today, and really did not see a whole lot. There was a 5-10mph breeze near ridgelines, and other places were dead calm. This was not the Hyalite I am used to! I noticed a number of small to medium natural sloughs, some of which could have had the power to knock someone over. But overall, I did not see any significant signs of instability. 
I dug a pit at 9400’ on the east face of Alex Lowe, and went down a meter or so. The newest low-density snow was sitting on top of a firm, 5cm crust, which sat over 5-10cm of 4F snow. This crust varied in firmness and depth in different places throughout the day, but I think it would be hard to trigger something through it, for now. Everything I saw below that was a dense (1F), very cohesive slab. An extended column failed at 14 on the 4F/1F interface, but did not propagate. I think this layer could become more reactive if we get heat or more snow, but it seems stubborn for now. It is worth noting that it was about -15F when I dug this. 
At lower elevations, the snowpack is faceted and weak, and I couldn’t step off my skis without sinking almost to the bottom. The skiing was phenomenal!

East winds are stripping snow from an area typically loaded by prevailing winds. Photo: E. Schreier

Today I toured up Mt Ellis and skied down a northeast aspect. I gained the north ridge around 11am, and there was a strong wind from the north (see photo). When checking out the snow, the effect of this wind was quite apparent with only about 10cm of recent snow high up on the ridge. Further down, and in the trees, the new snow total increased to 15-20cm. Unfortunately, my dog disagreed with my choice of location to test the snow and continued much further downslope, but I was able to get a few hand pits in. The new snow bonded quite well, and I observed only minor sluffing on the descent.