20-21

From obs 3/6/21: "Observed several smallish avalanches in Yellowstone National Park today. The interesting thing about this one is the bison track that goes into the slide. No telling if the avalanche was triggered by the bison, but the shallow snowpack is about 1/2 faceted, so maybe it was remotely triggered." Photo: J. Logan

From obs 3/6/21: "Two large natural avalanches in Maid of the Mist Basin. One of them ran on the east face of Arden Peak (Peak 10,201) which propagated across the entire face. Could have been triggered by a cornice fall then stepped down to deeper layers. The second was on the NE face of the peak Fat Maid and Skinny Maid come from. Also propagated across the entire slope. Crown height between 6'-8' in most places." Timing of these slides is unknown. Probably in the last week, but maybe older. Photo: S. Enloe

From obs 3/6/21: "Two large natural avalanches in Maid of the Mist Basin. One of them ran on the east face of Arden Peak (Peak 10,201) which propagated across the entire face. Could have been triggered by a cornice fall then stepped down to deeper layers. The second was on the NE face of the peak Fat Maid and Skinny Maid come from. Also propagated across the entire slope. Crown height between 6'-8' in most places." Timing of these slides is unknown. Probably in the last week, but maybe older. Photo: S. Enloe

From obs on 3/6/21: "Small slab avalanche with snowmobile highmark tracks. They do not appear to be related, since there are no tracks into or out of the slide. Approximate coordinates 45 4.313 x 109 55.380" Photo: R. Taylor

Quick observation from a beauty of a day in Cooke City. No obvious signs of instability noted throughout our tour today. Temps climbed into the mid 30s at upper elevations, but moderate southwest winds (cranking strong gusts on ridgelines) kept the surface snow cooler than expected. Mainly skied steep north facing shots with deep consistent snowpacks and the only moving snow was manageable surface sluffing and wind-driven spindrift. East, South, and West aspects all held 2-10cm sun crusts that were moderately supportable... while still frozen. South aspects corned up around noon above 9k'. Despite no new recent snowfall, there was still snow available for transport and leeward slopes were actively loading near ridgelines.

Additionally, we observed a handful of snowmobilers highmarking on 35+ degree North, East, and South facing slopes above 9k' showing no sluffing or obvious signs of instability from thier riding.

Thanks for the strong work fellas!