Laka-skooka-kinnimiki-leel

Traveled to a drainage with some of the larger slide paths in the southern Whitefish Range to look for evidence of a persistent slab avalanche problem involving the mid-January crust/ ice. The steep, rocky paths in this terrain don't appear to have produced natural avalanches during the February cycle. We did find rounding facets under the mid-January ice layer in a mid-elevation profile on a southeast facing slope. Tests resulted in no propagation or sudden failures on this layer, or storm interfaces above. 

We triggered one wet loose sluff on a very steep convexity. No other signs of instability. 

 

The 2/28 snow is low-density, large-grained, and cohesionless. Despite cold temperatures, it quickly became moist or wet on steep, mid-elevation slopes exposed to the sun. This snow quickly refroze when the slopes went back into the shade, though the crust was thin and not icy. The 2/28 snow remained dry on lower-angled and shaded slopes. 

Profile at 5550 ft, SE aspect. HS 180 cm. Upper snowpack progressively harder with depth, to mid-January facets and ice. 1mm rounding FC under ice, 4F+ hard. Unreactive in tests (ECTX, DTX x2). Several failures without propagation (ECTN 12, 15) at storm interfaces in top 40 cm of snowpack.

Dunes and drifts widespread near N-S running ridgelines, though often further downslope than usual. Some of these dunes very hard. Less widespread on E-W running ridgeline. Evidence of crossloading and scouring mid slope on S'erly slopes.