Northern Gallatin

Snow and dirt at History Rock on November 14, 2024. Photo: GNFAC

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."

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. 

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." 

From obs: "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.

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.