Southern Whitefish Range

Today we went around WMR to look at surface conditions on northerly aspects before snow begins to start flying again.

• Avalanche debris covers the south side of Canyon Creek. Some of the avalanche tracks are melted out and some others look more recent. A few slides made it to the road. The attached avalanches are ones that were not previously reported. 
• Crusts observed on all aspects and elevations up to 6500 feet. 
  • North-facing slopes near 5800 feet had less than a 1 cm surface crust with dry snow beneath. This particular location was at the bottom of the canyon, which may have been a location for cold air to sink.
  • Other north-facing slopes had a 1 to 2-cm surface crust with moist snow below. Moist snow transitioned to dry snow roughly a foot down. 
• Surfaces on all aspects had melt-forms at the surface. No near-surface facets were found. 

There is certainly a smooth bed surface for new snow to slide on. I am surprised by the lack of wet snow on northerly aspects. I'm already mentally preparing for the next persistent slab problem when snowfall returns, specifically higher up where surfaces may be faceted.