Mud Pass, Mosquito Creek

Still a shallow snowpack at lower elevations in the Snake, but it gets noticeably deeper by 8000'. The usual Mosquito Creek road cut-off trails are being used, but there are still shallow obstacles down low, and a lack of recent snow and lots of traffic have combined for plenty of whoopdy-doo riding.

In general, we observed a stable snowpack with no signs of instability and no recent avalanches.  There is a widespread layer of surface hoar where we travelled. Snow surfaces have remained soft thanks to cool temps and a low January sun angle. Steeper southerly slopes have had some heating and a small amount of loose snow shedding. We dug at 8800 feet on a northeast aspect, where we found the 12/26 crust down almost 3 feet. We had no propagation in this pit during our ECT.  While recent tracks on many steep slopes would indicate a low danger and stable snowpack, this forecaster - having just visited a snowmobiler fatality site yesterday in the Salt River Range - would still exercise caution around very steep slopes that terminate in terrain traps or other hazardous terrain.  However low the likelihood of triggering a large avalanche currently is, it would be prudent to still consider the consequences of the slope you decide to ride should it avalanche.

8800', NE HS 81 inches (205cm) ECTN20 down 1 foot on a density change, ECTN28 down 18 inches on preserved graupel. We isolated the column below the 12/26 crust with no results around that crust.

No signs of recent instability where we travelled.