From obs 2/5/22: "We were planning on skiing ainger basin area. Snow seemed safe while we were skinning, but we dug 3 pits because the wind was so strong. got semi-unstable results each time, ect 12 to 18 with clean propagation around 4 to 9 inches down, depending on the slope."
We were planning on skiing ainger basin area. Snow seemed safe while we were skinning, but we dug 3 pits because the wind was so strong. got semi-unstable results each time, ect 12 to 18 with clean propagation around 4 to 9 inches down, depending on the slope.
anyway , just submitting because I was surprised.
On and off graupel falling through the morning. 2-3mm particles. Never more than <1cm/hr
Winds picked up significantly ~1430, predominately NW
The Throne is wind scoured down to dirt in many places on the east face, making that face completely unskiable. We toured up to behind and above the throne (west of it) in hopes of finding better snow on the northeast aspect. Snow was extremely variable touring up, alternating between wind slab and wind scoured. Saw some shooting cracks on a wind slab at ~8500 feet on a 30 degree slope and quickly backed off.
We dug a pit at 8500 feet on the northeast aspect and got a ECT12 result that propagated all the way across on a layer of facets at about 140cm from the ground, below a thin (1cm) hard crust at ~145 cm from ground. Above that thin hard crust was ~15cm of fist soft snow and then a ~10cm wind crust on top of that.
Very funky/variable snow all the way down, mostly highly wind affected.
This morning while ascending a line on Sawtooth Mountain (Lower Novocain) we triggered an avalanche (ASu-SS-R2-D2-O) that caught and carried my partner an estimated 180M and partially buried him. His leg and hand were unburied and excavation of the head was done in less than 2 minutes of the incident. The avalanche only involved new snow from the last 48hrs and was triggered on a MF crust/facet combo 30cm down(formed 1/30/22). The avalanche was 30cm at its deepest and 20-30M wide and ran 250M. We were lucky to find both skis and poles a little ways downslope.
This morning while ascending a line on Sawtooth Mountain (Lower Novocain) we triggered an avalanche (ASu-SS-R2-D2-O) that caught and carried my partner an estimated 180M and partially buried him. His leg and hand were unburied and excavation of the head was done in less than 2 minutes of the incident. The avalanche only involved new snow from the last 48hrs and was triggered on a MF crust/facet combo 30cm down(formed 1/30/22). The avalanche was 30cm at its deepest and 20-30M wide and ran 250M. We were lucky to find both skis and poles a little ways downslope. No injuries were sustained.
We both agree that we were trying to outsmart the instability that was present on steeper S facing terrain and should have turned around much sooner, we were very lucky. There was 30+cm HST in favored areas and the high winds from 1/31/22 formed some sensitive windslabs in specific areas.
A completely sugary faceted snowpack on an east facing slope above the Texas Meadows Knob to the west on an East facing aspect. Extremely week all the way through consistently at this elevation. Scary for future loading.
Graph of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) at SNOTEL sites in the GNFAC forecast area from October 1, 2021 to January 30, 2022. It highlights the extended dry conditions in January that contributed to weak layers forming at the top of the snowpack. GNFAC
I am testing the "Submit Obs" platform, mainly the formatting, but that actual obs from today are real.
Allyson and I did a few laps inbounds at Bridger Bowl, then headed out the ridge to Saddle Peak. Allyson had never skied Saddle and was stoked to do it.
I attached a pic from the top taken by the official @motogirlUSA. I just realized you can not send a movie on this form, just a link.
