Flathead Range - Snowshed Mtn and Skiumah Lake

Quick report

Saw portions of two large crowns on Snowshed Mtn, D2s at least. One on the SE face above Sheep Creek at about ~7000' and another on the E face above McDonald Ck at ~6800'. Estimated these ran back on Feb. 20th/21st during the storm. This last one may have been previously reported? Crown thickness looked to be 2-4'. Could not view the rounout or debris. Skied into Skiumah Lake in the afternoon. Widespread avalanching in here during the Feb. 20th/21st storm. Multiple D2 and D3s with a few events putting debris down to the lake. Multiple crowns observed on the surrounding terrain, 2-4+ feet thick and some running several hundred feet. Two large ones up on the NNE face of Penrose and Peak 7510' (photos). Also, notable were a couple large crowns (estimated 3-4') thick on the steep slopes only a few hundred feet above the lake, around 5200' (photos). Several crowns look like they may have failed on older persistent weak layers but did not inspect any crowns close up to confirm.

Snowpack

At the lake there's 10 cm powder resting on top of a 5-10 cm melt-freeze crust. Westerly winds were transporting snow occasionally above ~5500'.

Avalanche

Size

D3 R2

Type

HS

Count

6

Aspect

N

Trigger

N

Elevation

7200 ft

Looked to be a big hard slab. Visibility limited by fog. Elevation and crown size estimated.