24-25

Small windslab triggered on approach for inspection. Failure interface had 5 mm Surface Hoar. Soft slab, remote propagation onto the adjacent slope. Debris covered about half of the road bed.

Photo: J Hambelton 

Small windslab triggered on approach for inspection. Failure interface had 5 mm Surface Hoar. Soft slab, remote propagation onto the adjacent slope. Debris covered about half of the road bed.

Photo: J Hambelton

Small windslab triggered on approach for inspection. Failure interface had 5 mm Surface Hoar. Soft slab, remote propagation onto the adjacent slope. Debris covered about half of the road bed.

Photo: J Hambelton

 Found preserved buried surface hoar approximately 15-20cms below the snow surface. 

Photo: Beartooth Mountain Guides 

About 6 inches of new snow at the trailhead around 9am. While touring to the ridge between beehive and middle basin we found strong wings actively loading east facing slopes. While moving north across the ridge, small test slopes showed cracking but no cohesive wind slabs yet. When skiing into middle basin, I stopped at the top of a convex roller and had cracks shooting out 50 feet in either direction from what seemed to be a soft slab in the new snow that slid about a foot or so. This was the most major sign of instability from the day. Lots of shooting cracks when skiing and skinning in the new snow. Throughout the day found anywhere from 8-15 inches of new snow, with the larger totals on wind loaded slopes.

We rode into Buck Ridge on December 15. It was snowing and the wind was whipping up the snow that had already fallen, so visibility was limited. We rode in to the top of First and Second Yellowmule to get a closer look. The total snow depth (where it isn't stripped down by the wind) varied from 20 inches to a little over three feet. There was 6" of new snow. Similar to other areas, new snow is falling on near-surface facets. In wind-sheltered areas, there is insufficient slab to result in widespread instability, and the critical ingredient is wind-loading. We got ECTNs 5-14 on the weak layer buried 6-8" deep with no deeper failures.

I am always nervous during periods of incremental loading because we will eventually hit the breaking point. I'm avoiding wind-loaded slopes and testing the upper 2 feet of the snowpack to assess for instability before considering steeper terrain.