Cooke City, Fisher and Scotch Bonnet

We skinned up to Rob's Knob and dug twice on North/ Northeast aspects, finding a relatively similar snowpack both times. ~80cm deep with a layer of surface hoar/ facets 10" deep. ECTN 11-12 on this layer. ECTX on facets lower on the snowpack (1-2mm). We looked for a spot that had a bit more wind affect on our second pit. It didn't behave any differently. On our descent, we cut across a series of wind loaded pillows and did not observe any cracking or collapsing. 

We went around on the road to Tragenic Bowl by the old mine and toured across to the Rasta Chutes. The snowpack was notably thinner on the South/ Southeast aspects of Scotch Bonnet (20-50cm). We found a similar layer of facets/ surface hoar buried below the recent snow. Below that was a series of crust facet sandwiches. ECTN 12 on the surface hoar buried 10" deep. ECTX on the lower facets. 

Overall, the snowpack was a typical early season setup. Above average temperatures may have protected us from some weakening of the structure but certainly not all. As the snowpack gets loaded, we will add persistent slab avalanches into the mix of problem to watch for.