Northwest of Nowlin Peak

We toured the Southern Gros Ventre to determine snowpack depths and the distribution of facets. We checked multiple aspects near 9000'. On northerly aspects, the total height of the snowpack averaged 110 cm (~3.5 feet) with the bottom 30cm being faceted snow. East and West aspects had slightly shallower depths with an average of 100cm total snow depth with similar facet depths. South aspects averaged 75 cm (~2.5 feet). We dug two pits on north and west-facing aspects at ~9000'. Pit results yielded ECTX results in both pits. On a west-facing slope, we also conducted a propagation saw test which resulted in a PSTend 65/100 at the top of the faceted snow layer. Southerly aspects with direct solar input have developed a supportable crust below 8000' that likely formed before the recent cold temperatures on 1/16. 

Winds have been transporting surface snow the past couple of days and this area was no exception. We started to notice light north winds around 8500'. While there was evidence of previous loading on north aspects (such as cornice formation and small wind slabs) recent winds had started to deposit snow onto other aspects including south and east terrain. Along the ridgeline, we experienced one collapse in the snowpack, likely occurring on a softer snow layer below the 3-inch 1F wind board. While the winds have not created large slabs, we did see isolated pockets of small wind slabs that had released naturally fairly recently on an NE aspect. 

At lower elevations, snow depth decreases significantly with an average snowpack of 50cm. 

While walking on a flatter spot along the ridge, we heard one fairly large collapse within the snowpack. This collapse was isolated to a wind-loaded area along the ridge and appeared to fail on softer faceted snow under the denser wind-loaded snow. We also noted some recent wind slab avalanches that failed on NE aspects, most likely within the last 72 hours. These avalanches were 6-12" thick and only ran a short distance.