Valanga

Sperry Chalet Basin

Paul FotterFlathead Range & Glacier NP
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Foto dell’osservazione 1Foto dell’osservazione 2Foto dell’osservazione 3Foto dell’osservazione 4

Quick report

General stability but limited visibility kept us from skiing above treeline. No obvious signs of instability.

Snowpack

We found a snowpack that may be the most stable February snowpack I've seen in the Flathead. Of course, this can change with one storm. We dug on a W aspect at our 6800'. Here, the snowpack was 180cm. The snowpack was uniform 1F hardness except for crusts throughout he snowpack. The other exception were some basal facets that are wet and stick into a snowball when compressed. Near the top of the snowpack a 10 cm crust exists. Above this 6-8cm of first hard snow capped with a sun crust.

Avalanche

Size
D2
Type
U
Aspect
W
Trigger
N
Elevation
6800 ft

In addition to the D2 in the avalanche tab, we observed approximately 5 D1 avalanches that ran across the trail on the approach to Sperry Chalet.