Kimmerly

Today we went to Kimmerly Basin to see what was going on in the southern Whitefish Range outside of WMR. The snowpack was quiet until we reached 6500 feet where we felt it become slightly wind-stiffened. Then it started talking.

• Numerous whumpfs that shook snow off trees 100s of feet away. 
• We gained a broad ridge above Kimmerly Basin and got a very loud collapse. We skinned over to a north-facing path about 100 yards away and realized we had remotely triggered a very large avalanche. The avalanche propagated 1500 feet wide and failed 2 to 3 feet deep (See avalanche tab for more information). We observed an additional deep crown another 3000' down the ridge, but couldn't safely get to a point to investigate. It could have released sympathetically, or it failed on its own earlier. 
• There is 18 to 24 inches of new/recent snow. The top 8 inches is low-density and very enjoyable to ride through on machine and skis.
• We observed one large (D2) natural slab avalanche on a southeast aspect at middle elevations that failed during the heat of the day.  We presume this failed on a persistent weak layer.

The snowpack is downright nerve-racking. We kept slope angles low and we were so on edge that we spaced out on a 25-degree slope with no overhead hazard. 

media to follow. 

Snowpack started talking loud and clear above 6500 feet. Excessive collapsing and remotely triggered a D3 avalanche from a hundred yards away.

Constant collapsing above 6500 feet. We found a slightly harder snowpack at this elevation where it was more exposed to east winds. 

Snowpit at 6400 feet on N aspect:

ECTN22 down roughly 70 cm on 10mm surface hoar (JDL).  Upper 50 cm of the snowpack was Fist to Fist+. Whumpfing started another 100 feet higher where a slightly stiffer slab (4F down to 1F) formed above the weak layer.