Doris

We went to the northern Swan to troubleshoot our McGuivered snow stake camera. We rode all over the Jenny Lake area and found good riding conditions.

• Observed three recent natural slab avalanches. These were all large (D2) and broke about 2 feet deep.
• • We assume these failed within the last 12 to 24 hours due to the lack of recent snow on the bed surface.
  • There is a possibility we may have triggered one of the avalanches remotely. Not ruling it out.
  • Avalanches all failed above 6500 feet. Aspects ranged from northeast to southeast.
• We had one loud collapse while I was walking to look at a crown. The rest of the day we were riding so we never felt or heard collapses.
• We found 2 inches of recent snow from yesterday. The upper snowpack has settled a lot since I was last out on Saturday.
• Winds stiffened the snow surface at mid and upper-elevations. We assume the recent naturals were caused by wind transport.

We kept our travel tight and our slope angles low. We over communicated decisions and were very clear about the direction we planned to ride. 

Got off the sled to look at a recent natural and got a loud collapse.