Piegan Pass

We found an average of 4-10" of fresh, dry snowfall (amounts rising rapidly with elevation gain) and winded snow texture at upper elevations. A handful of large natural slab avalanches were observed off Piegan and Clements Moutain, some at the old/new interface (a stout crust now over ~12 inches deep) and some breaking on mid-storm hardness changes. New snow skied somewhat upside-down due to a slight warm-up several days prior, creating a harder but breakable surface beneath snowfall from the past 24 hours. We chose confined terrain not connected to broad slopes or overhead exposure. One would be more likely to encounter this problem in winded, well-connected terrain 8,500' and above. Skies were clearer than forecasted with low wind speeds, and presumably, warm temps and clear skies will rapidly start a shed cycle over the next three days. We could ski-cut pockets of storm snow (cumulatively now over ~12 inches or more in depth) along ridgelines that moved sluggishly. They failed on changes in snowfall between the tricklings of snow over four days that the area has received. Recent wet loose activity triggered by icefall lower on the road (~7,000') ran on the old/new interface of firm crust capped with ~4 inches of snowfall.

Piegan Pass

Quick report

Weather

Avalanche