Northern Gallatin

Looking up at the Fat Maid from Maid of the Mist basin. Strong winds over the last week have scoured the alpine, exposing lots of rock. Photo: GNFAC

From email 1/9/22: "Skier triggered cornice failure avalanche. Broke at skis 10-12 feet from the lip. No one caught or injured."

From email 1/9/22: "Skier triggered cornice failure avalanche. Broke at skis 10-12 feet from the lip. No one caught or injured."

Toured up to the summit of Mt. Ellis this morning. The weather was clear skies, sunny, and a slight westerly breeze up top and along the ridge. Along the ridge we saw many small to medium sized cornices. We knocked a couple small ones off on to the slope below and they slid on a very firm wind loaded surface (pictures). There is quite a bit of firm wind loaded along on the ridge but we saw no shooting cracks or other signs of instability. We dug a pit on the East face just below the summit to evaluate the layer of facets near the ground and got an ECTX result. All signs were pointing to good stability and we enjoyed a very nice run down the Mt. Ellis Direct decent. 

Dug snow pit south of Flanders Mountain on East facing aspect @ 9000ft. Result was ECTN 27 failing on ground level facets. Approximately 95 cm of snow at non wind transported areas. Evidence of wind loading above alpine. Skied below tree line.  

It was easy to crack the thin wind slabs that formed from strong wind the last 2 days. They were not propagating, but cracking indicated potential instability on wind drifts. Photo: GNFAC