Flathead Range

I went for a short, off-the-clock walk, looking for evidence of avalanche activity associated with the 1/31-2/1 storm. I chose a drainage with multiple steep avalanche paths on north and south aspects.

• The first portion of the tour allowed for great views of southeast and east-facing paths. No crowns were spotted, and only small debris piles were observed in the runout zones.
• The cloud ceiling descended a bit and limited views of northerly paths during the second half of the tour. I had a view of part of this terrain earlier in the day and did not notice any crowns or debris piles.
• The surface consisted of a 2cm thick breakable melt-freeze (rain) crust from Highway 2 to around 4800 feet.
• The recent gusty winds had left a 5-10 cm thick wind slab on the valley floor above 5000 feet. This was capped with 1-2 inches of fresh snow. 

Cracking was less than a ski length and limited to wind slabs.