Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
We dug a pit at 6600ft. Snow was over 320cm deep. In an extended column test we had propagating results with light/moderate force (ECTP9). We had sudden planer results, with the failing block of snow sliding easily off our column. This failure took place roughly 40cm below the snow surface. We experienced audible collapsing, shooting cracks, and remotely triggered a slab while a nearby ridge. We also observed a number of older avalanches in upper elevation bands in cross loaded, rocky slopes. Not sure when these failed.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Below freezing in the morning, warming up and hovering around freezing at the sled/4800ft in the afternoon.
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Calm day in the mountains with mostly cloudy skies with occasional sunshine coming through. Good visibility today and views into the higher elevations of the Flathead Range. Winds very light for the duration of our day.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 6500 ft
We remotely triggered a slab avalanche while on a nearby ridge. The slab was about 40cm deep, crown 50ft wide, and ran about 50ft before stopping in thicker trees. This avalanched failed on an open, leeward slope where the ridge began to steepen, terrain we were intentionally avoiding. We assume this failed on the weak layer in our pit. We also observed a number of crowns on cross loaded terrain in the higher elevations of Paola Creek. It appeared that debris from these avalanches had run nearly to the valley floor. Despite having good visibility and a small pair of binoculars, we did not notice any other recent avalanches on the other high peaks of the Flathead. We