Lizard-Flathead

After the boot pack in at about 2.3km, the snow was crusty then warmed up in the sun. Patches of good snow was to be found in non sun effected areas.

Skinned to the hut no further, high avalanche risk. Heard massive avalanche and saw plenty of avalanche evidence above the hut. Cornice ready to go. Hot two days, crusty ski down.

Spent the weekend out at Thunder Meadows hut, access and egress was good. Used the xc trails from Island lake and was able to ski the majority of the way in and out. The creek crossing into cabin bowl is swollen, will require a boots off maneuver. Friday and Saturday held good skiing, cold snow on polars and warming on solars. No signs of instability were observed on friday and saturday. Sunday and Monday had increasingly weak refreeze overnight and hot wet skiing everywhere. We were able to ski steep alpine terrain on Saturday, and then stepped back from terrain as the warming increased. We witnessed a widespread natural cycle of wet loose and some cornice fall to size 1.5. By Sunday many glide cracks were growing in the area, we witnesses no glide releases. Monday afternoon while exiting we began to make wet slab avalanches while navigating thru steep terrain at the bottom of orca bowl and had one wet slab Sa at size 2. The rider was able to ski out of the avalanche. Below 1500m the Lizard range is below threshold. Above 1500m coverage increases fast and is over 3 m of snow at the cabin. The snowpack continues to be isothermal up to ridgetop and will need a good refreeze before the corn harvest begins! The cabin is in good shape, well buried and the pressure of the snow has moved the door slightly out of alignment. Bring mouse traps if you are heading up! The bathroom has snow/ice plugged into the puck board poop slider but hopefully that clears up with warming temps!

We skinned up the Sunnyside trees from tunnel creek hut at 8am and observed a large wet loose debris slide that seemed to come from a single point potentially dropped off a tree. We approached the ridge and looked into mercury basin which had further evidence of natural wet loose debris and big pin wheel debris. The snow felt heavy and wet in sun affected areas which turned to a crust layer when out of the sun. The softest snow was found directly under the trees. We dug a pit on the west facing slope of tunnel ridge which faced into mercury bowl. The snow pack depth was 250cm at this point. The snowpack clearly showed the heavy wet recent storm slab snow of 50cm sitting on a ice hard pack for the lower section of the snow pack. The interface between the two sections had a layer of groupal polystyrene ball type snow. We performed two propagation tests, the first showed no weak layer instability.this was performed across the full 90cm wide column. The second was performed on a smaller isolated column. This test showed the interface between the new storm snow and the hardback below failed at around 28 CP (One of first pits tests I've witnessed, but I understand this to be 10 with wrist,10 with forearm and 8 with shoulders). The slope was around 25-30deg, 1900m elevation. We skied in the trees of mercury basin and saw no new avalanches but often large pin wheels or heavy slabs of snowpack break off. The skiing was still very fun, great last hut trip to finish off my first season in the backcountry.

You can drive to 42.5 no problems, no further. Lots of wet loose on the headwall. North facing slopes riding deep pow Anywhere that got sun was wet and heavy. We triggered 2 wet loose avalanches on a NW slope, took one person for a ride. Crust was forming where sun hit in the morning and was shaded by the afternoon. Was a fun day! Snow quality likely to quickly deteriorate with the warm temps.

Snow felt stable and no signs of avalanches. As we approach higher up (maximum elevation 1500m) the snow began to feel a bit slabbier and would break in larger sections when skinning. Coverage was good with light snow from 1000m on the gorbys trail.

Climbed White Pyramid and found edgeable crust basically the entire way. The river was frozen and supportive to skis, though the ice had opened considerably in the afternoon. Ski crampons were handy in places but not essential. Good boot packing conditions on the ridge and we found consistent 3m snowpack on the summit glacier. Broken sky felt pretty warm at times, but light to mod winds kept ridge top cool. Observed -2 C at summit at 1400, T10 -8C. We observed only one slough off the east facing headwall in the morning, but the cornices above are significant. Most of the paths along the west side of the creek appear to have slid in the past week. Cloud cover increased in PM reducing solar input. Skiing was mostly firm with chalky sections, hooky down towards the creek. Great views made the day.

Started the day with a supportive crust, transitioned to spring corn before going isothermal around 1:00 pm as we descended in elevation. Size 1 wet looses observed on steep, rocky, alpine + solar slopes. Observed from a distance but seemed to be a day or two old. No natural roller balls observed, some roller balls from us skiing down. Cloudy all day with sporadic wind, rain and snow. Hiked to about the second creek crossing (~2km), skinned up to the hut from there. Icy conditions on the road as you approach snowline, cleats would be nice to have for the walk up/ down!

Quality blue bird three sisters outing. Travel is challenging below 1400m with lots of dirt patches but supportive frozen crusts when we started (5:00am). We opted to walk the Proctor summer trail to 1400m when we put our skiis on. From there we enjoyed great ski crampon conditions all the way to the debris in the main couloir when we transitioned to boots. Very intense solar had us excited for the corn but not worried with our early start. We found some dry powder in the "toilet bowl" above the couloir (2400m, N). Great coverage and snow quality (for its exposure) on the ramp to the summit. Summit 9:30am, dry snow to the couloir where it transitioned to lovely corn and the debris had even softened nicely. We had some more corn descending from the meadows and hit the freezing level at ~1200m. We kept the skiis on for most of the way out with minimal "dry skiing".

This morning, when we checked the weather, we noticed we didn’t get as strong of a freeze overnight, and temperatures were already climbing. Knowing this, we chose a trip plan closer to home to maximize our time outside before peak daytime warming. We decided to head to Morrissey and drove the Morrissey Creek FSR to about km 25, where the snow line started. The skies were clear, the sun was hot, and there was little to no wind to keep the snow surface cool. We traveled up to 2100 m on Morrissey Ridge, where it was +6°C at noon. Ski quality was great, with 190 cm of snow still on Morrissey Ridge. The top 2–5 cm of snow was soft and sitting on a supportive crust. We called it a day at 2 p.m. once the snow became isothermal and the crust stopped being supportive. Throughout the day, we had excellent visibility and did not observe any avalanche activity. The snowpack is currently going through a classic diurnal cycle, freezing overnight and melting during the day. This can provide stable conditions in the early morning, with a rising hazard trend throughout the day. GOing forward into the weekend, we may not get the same refreeze. Keep an eye on the avalanche forecast and local weather forecast to have the best plan for riding this weekend! P.S. It was nice to see several groups of snowmobilers out there. Winter's not done yet!

Corbin provided the corn harvest today! Access from the parking lot was still snow/ice covered with the exception of one small dirt patch. The morning was refrozen as we headed in around 10 AM, and required lots of chainsawing to keep the sleds cool. The snow surface softened up around noon and the ride out was soft and supportive! In the alpine, solar slopes began to soften slowly at noon, a light breeze kept the surface from becoming sticky, and we were able to enjoy a few hours of nice supportive corn skiing on a south aspect. By 2 PM west aspects were beginning to soften as well. The avalanche hazard in this region is currently related to warming. Rising air temperatures and solar input thru the day may cause surface instabilities, and weaken cornices. Be mindful of how much warming is happening on snow surface, and relate those observations to what’s above you. Remember that alpine features see solar input earlier in the day than lower elevation features. Now is a good time to explore in the Corbin region! With warmer temperatures in the next few days starting earlier and ending earlier could make for better ski quality, and a safer day! Bring your sunscreen and enjoy the harvest!

Went out for a little adventure to Ridge 2000 from the ski resort today. The day was off to a rough start skiing down Cedar Bowl getting hammered with a snow rain mix…snain, and slapped our skins on in the pouring snain at the haul back while we contemplated our choices in adventure. Just as we started skinning we experienced some thunder snow, and hoped that the convective cell would pass quickly. It did. By time we made it to the bottom of Fish Bowl it was getting sunny and the adventure was looking more promising. We crossed the bottom of the bowl as we gawked up at the sunlight ridge with slightly clenched sphincters noticing old wet loose avalanches and a couple large glide cracks. We climbed up the ridge on 5-10cm of wet shmoopy snow and as we climbed the wind got stronger and stronger. We noticed that the previously unfrozen surface snow was beginning to form a cream brulé crust on anything but the most solar aspects. As we neared the top of the ridge I was slowly getting strangled by my own jacket as my hood parachuted backwards with my face to the wind which was honking from the NW. Deciding that we didn’t want to get blown into the Cement Chutes, we decided to call it there and made a plan to descend the ridge avoiding any terrain below the glide cracks we observed earlier. We had great visibility of the terrain below us and could confirm that no other parties were around so we decided to shmoopalanche the slope and ski the bed surface which produced reactive wet loose and provided really great skiing on the bed surface. As we descended we noticed that the snow became less reactive and a very interesting snow surface (see pic). As we exited fish bowl back to the resort we observed new wet loose avalanches around the glide crack and that the glide crack itself was noticeably larger than earlier. Overall it was a great adventure packed with all kinds of weather from thunder snow to sun and honking wind. **we also observed several trees failing in the wind today especially in the BTL, heads up hockey out there.

The joke was on us today.. We were hopeful that north facing terrain was still holding dry snow after a couple sunny days. We were wrong. We encountered breakable crust on all aspects until we got on lower angle terrain below 1600 m where the crust was supportive to skis. No avalanche concerns where we skied today. Twisting a knee in the breakable crust was the main hazard. The good news..It's snowing in town! Pro tip: Low angle, open, smooth terrain makes for the best skiing when conditions are dust on crust ;)

The South Rockies team took a visit to the newest Grizzly Basin Outfitters cabin in the Whimster creek drainage today! Access was ok, new snow down low made a difference in keeping the machines cool. Apart from one minor creek crossing, the road is snow or ice the whole way to the cabin! We ventured above the cabin on skis up to a treed ridgeline at 1800m. Travel conditions are reasonable in this area. There is 10 cm of new snow on the most recent crust, which is supportive to skis. Within the 10 cm of new snow there is a thin breakable crust that was not a factor while skinning, but noticeable on the ski down a treed north facing slope. Surface snow on the south aspect was collecting some solar radiation with patches of sunlight and mostly cloudy skies, but not enough to warm the surface snow. Air temperature at 1800 m was -2.5 and winds were light from the south. Snowpack depth at 1800 m was between 170-190 cm. We observed lots of recent cornice growth in the McDermott and First Peak area. And one old natural size 2.5 persistent slab avalanche, likely during last weeks rain event, on the steep and rocky North face of McDermott Peak. A group skiing in this area the past week reported some signs of instability on north facing terrain in the treeline/alpine. If you have been out in the hills recently or plan on getting out this weekend, please consider submitting your observations to the MIN!

Today the South Rockies team took a chance on riding from Corbin staging and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of access! The recent snow made a big difference for the trail, there was a thin fresh coating of wet snow right from the parking lot! The old grooming held up to the rain reasonably well, only a few patches of thin coverage over dirt. As we climbed towards Rain gauge the snow quality improved steadily and we found 20 cm of dry new snow above 1800 m. Below the new snow there is a supportive crust which made for some slippery riding while getting into the throttle or descending slopes. We did not venture above treeline today. Strong to extreme westerly winds in the alpine made for uncomfortable and potentially dangerous conditions at higher elevations. We observed intense snow transport at ridge tops this morning. Exposed areas are scoured down to ice. Significant snow drifting and deposition is occurring on a variety of aspects in the treeline and alpine. We dug a profile in a sheltered area at 2100 m. Snowpack depth is 220 cm at our profile location. The upper snowpack contains many layers of crust and a variety of snow grain types but is not producing any concerning failures below the recent storm snow. We had easy resistant planar failures of the storm snow/crust interface at CTE 6. No propagating results with ECT. We did not see any evidence of large natural avalanches during the recent rain event. Overall better quality riding than we anticipated. Springtime conditions are beginning to shape up nicely, but the snowpack still needs more time to settle before we would consider stepping out to larger features.

Good day skiing some corn up mt. Proctor. Noticed several older avalanches, Glide cracks and cornices around. The slopes we stuck to warmed throughout the day resulting in very nice skiing above 1700m.

Skied the bowl below Grizzly Peak just outside of Fernie resort boundaries. Had to hike in the first 2km as the dense trees were not skinnable due to lack of snow. As we gained elevation we were able to skin up through the trees. The snow was very wet and occasionally the poles would push right through. Shaded areas had a firm MF crust, ski crampons were required to continue climbing. The ski down was heavily wind affected with sastrugi and had a firm icy crust. Lots of avalanche debris was found throughout the bowl from last weeks warm weather. We saw what appeared to be a glide crack that formed on a NE aspect that we did not see in the morning.

Bullet Proof Crust when we got up in the morning, that slowly turned to fun snow by 11:30 AM in the sunnier spots. Lots of Loose Wet sluff around from the rain. Tree Skiing was variable, crusty, wet, heavy and everything in between. Stability seemed decent, and Nothing had slid From Planetary East Face to Venus yet as of Sunday

Lodgepole FSR access to Harvey Pass affected by a blown out culvert at 29.5 km

Incredible surprise powder weekend in Fernie, and we made the most of it by going into Mongolia Bowl on Sunday. Observing the avalanche Canada report, one of the key things to watch out for was sun-effective snow on all aspects aside from North. We reached the top of Mongolia from Mammoth Drops around 12 pm and noticed a significant change in temperature from shade to sun. When we got to the top, we could see balls of rolling snow fall down the snow, and you could tell that the sun was just starting to have an effect on the snowpack. We quickly made our way to the bottom of Mongolia Bowl through the lookers right side, with the face being more supported and a bit more open, ready to go up the second ridge. We stuck to shaded areas for the rest of the walk. Riding from the second ridge back down into the main Mongolia Bowl was awesome, bottomless powder with open trees. It was a wicked run. The sun hadn’t seemed to play any effect on the side of the slope. We walked back up to Mongolia Ridge and then skied the open face into mammoth droppings, one of the best runs of the season so far.

The perfect day to cross 7 bridges into the Promise Land. Very low snow on the trail in, but generally skiable. Lots of snow once you climb upto the plateau. We found 5-25cm of fresh hero snow ontop of a 3cm crust and then another 60-80cm to the next crust. No signs of instability all day as we skied 4 different upper bowls. In the deepest and most west facing area we had easy planar hand sheer results 5cm down and then medium effort at 20cm down so we skied the best supported line we could. Small winds slab crowns on extreme and rocky west facing areas there. Other areas with more South and/or north aspects had zero to hard hand sheer results. Strong winds at times blowing some snow off the summit ridge. Definitely worth the long and bony approach today.

THE day to be out in the lizard range. Below 1500m yet another breakable temperature crust exists in the upper 15 cm of HST. Above 1500m there is 40-60cm of new snow above the march 10 crust. The mar 10 crust is 5-10cm thick and supportive up to ridgetop. We observed several recent Na storm slabs up to sz 1 from steep rocky features. And a few Na dry loose from headwalls this am with solar input and active wind loading. Air temperature rose steadily thru the day and solar slopes saw strong input from the sun. We didn’t notice any significant warming of the snow surface due to steady light wind. Ridetop winds increased to moderate W-SW in the pm. Snow transport increased to moderate at 11am and by 2pm was holding snow in turbulent suspension under headwall features. We skied open trees and supported alpine slopes up to 40° on NW and NE aspects below 1950m and had a great day out in the sunshine!

Early in, early out. Found some unreal mellow pow off the proctor ridge and down to fairy creek. Surprisingly little wind effect/slabbing on the surface. New snow was bonding poorly to the various crust (rain/sun/melt freeze) and better to the wind affected surfaces. We opted to start early in the cold and avoid any surface wetness with the high solar.

Skied 3.14159 great laps of Mongolia. ~30cm new snow made for enjoyable skiing on low angle slopes, steeper slopes sluffed readily down to the crust below. When initially climbing up the NW-facing trees above Mammoth Droppings, popped a few small wind pockets ~10-15cm deep, 2-3m wide. No similar activity observed when skiing down into Mongolia (S-SE slopes), or during the subsequent climb from Mongolia back to the col.

After being turned around due to a highway closure, we pivoted to McDermott basin. We staged at the cat shed and access was breezy up to the cabin where we switched to human powered travel. We climbed up to the notch, then over to hang ten. We dug a profile at 2000 m on a wind loaded NW aspect. The recent storm snow did not produce any results in tests, which was great to see. However, we were still able to produce consistent results on the January persistent slab layer, which was buried down 85 cm (ECTP28 on well preserved large SH). The day was mainly cloudy, wind was light from the west. It was snowing very lightly when we began our decent around 14:00. Skiing was decent where you couldn’t feel the crust below the storm. We noted several old natural storm slab avalanches, predominately on N-E aspects in steep rocky terrain, likely occurring during the storm or soon after.

Today the South Rockies team went for a braap in the Rolling Hills area. We intended on accessing from the Coal Creek trailhead however we were uncertain about driving higher up than the staging kiosk, and there was a lack of snow to ride right from valley bottom. We pivoted and accessed via the Morrissey upper staging, and signage was very clear on where to drive and park! There was about 5 minutes of low snow riding on the road before we hit good trail conditions the rest of the way! Our aim today was to assess surface snow conditions after last nights storm, and test the Persistent Slab problem in our snow pit again after some additional loading. Above 1500m there was 20-30 cm of new snow that had been redistributed by wind forming large cornices and drifts. We found the best riding in sheltered low angle lee slopes where the wind had stacked up a little extra snow! Windward aspects near ridgetops and open areas were largely stripped back to a firm crust. We were able to get storm slab results on small loaded test slopes with crown depths of 20-80 cm, and we observed a recent natural avalanche from a steep north facing lee slope at 2000m. This slope is a common performer near the Rolling Hills Cabin, see image. Below the recent snow there is a widespread 5-15cm crust on all aspects below 2000m. Our snowmobiles were not able to penetrate this crust. In our snow pit, we had moderate propagating results (ECTP 12), storm snow failing on crust/graupel down 25cm. We had no results (ECTX) on the Persistent Slab problem, however we were still able to identify preserved surface hoar buried 90 cm deep. In places where the crust is less supportive, human triggering of the Persistent Slab problem is still a concern. Overall a nice day out with some decent riding, and there is still plenty of fresh left in sheltered areas to enjoy some fun, supportive tree riding! We avoided steep wind loaded slopes, gave cornices a wide berth, and had a great day out in the hills!

Up to 20cm new storm snow is starting to propagate small, soft, storm slabs in steeper terrain. Sliding on the march 9th rain crust. Snowing heavily, up to 3cm/hr, all afternoon with no wind

Today we went for a ski up at Cold Feet near the 3 Sisters. Our goal was to find out what happened to the snowpack during this weekends warm and stormy weather, and once again test our Persistent Slab problem in this region. Access from Hartley staging is good right from the parking lot, and enough dust on the crust to keep the sleds cool! Below 1900m the crust from this weekend is 10-15 cm thick and supportive to skis and snowmobiles. There was 10 cm of new snow on top this morning, and more snow thru the day added up to 20 cm on top this afternoon! Winds were light from the SW at ridgetop today. The surface snow is low density and is not exhibiting any slab properties, but sloughing in steep terrain is entraining snow and running long distances on the crust. Above 1900m the crust dwindles to 3-5 cm thick and is not supportive to skis. We dug on a South aspect at 2100m and were able to produce propagating results on the Jan 26 Persistent Weak Layer (PWL). ECTP 28 down 85 cm. On a North aspect at 2100m we were not able to produce propagating results on the Jan 26 PWL, or the Feb 7 PWL. We had ECTN 22, and CTM 12 SP down 40 cm on the Feb 7 PWL. We were only able to identify preserved Surface Hoar within the Feb 7 PWL on North aspects, and within the Jan 26 PWL on South aspects. Where the crust is thin and breakable, triggering a large persistent slab avalanche is still a concern. We are being extra cautious about slopes with likely trigger points such as buried rocks/logs, thin to thick areas, and steep slopes/convexities. The persistent slab is transitioning to a low probability/high consequence problem, and will continue to change with additional load. Choosing low angle terrain not only avoids this avalanche problem, it also provides better ski quality in the "dust on crust" conditions that exist currently!

5-8cm’s dust on crust on a north aspect between 1700m and 2000m. Saturday/Sunday’s rain to ridgetop really helped consolidate the snowpack. As of Tuesday afternoon there had been minimal wind accompanying the new snow so there was no slab. Ski quality is alright, minimal sluffing even in steep terrain. No signs of instability observed out there on Monday or Tuesday.

The South Rockies team enacted a backup plan and went for a tour up the Mercury Basin today. We intended on going up the Little Sand area, but a lack of snow down low made it impassable for our machines. It was a warm day and mostly sunny with a few convective squalls. The access to Mercury/Mcdermott is good from the cat shed. Isothermic snow down low kept the machines cool on the trail. Up past the Mercury cabin the warming has had a significant impact on the ski quality, breakable crust and ski pen of 10-30 cm in moist snow all the way to 1800m. We dug on an east and west aspect at 1800m. Height of snow is between 260-300 cm. The persistent weak layer is down 75cm and still has preserved surface hoar up to 15mm on a supportive crust. We had CTH24, ECTX, RB6 WB, and PST 35/100 end on this layer. We observed no signs of avalanche activity. Although this layer is not giving obvious red flags while travelling on skis/snowmobile, the structure for large avalanches still exists, and is still able to be triggered by humans. Shallow areas, buried rocks/trees, and thin to thick areas are all likely places to trigger this problem. In this area it is a low probability, high consequence problem, and we avoided skiing in avalanche terrain today.

Stayed at Whimster cabin for three nights and found generally crusty skiing, with dry snow on true north aspects until rain and warmer temps on the 4th. ECTP 16 down 52 on well preserved 6-10mm surface hoar at 2100m and ECTN 7 down 12 on both west and northeast aspects kept us mostly to mellow and treed terrain. ECTX, moist snow to ground with a few crust/ice lense/ very degraded surface hoar layers found at 1850m in south facing open burned trees. A refreeze occurred down to 1750m overnight on the 4th before 1cm new snow at ridge top and then light rain throughout the morning. Below that were dense and wet conditions with small wet loose realeases or massive pinwheels. One big whumph and 30m shooting crack at ridge top around 1800m.

Skied into Thunder Meadows on March 2nd, out on the 3rd. N aspects held a supportive crust with dry 5-10cm on top. No whoomphing or cracking. Obvious wind effect noted in windward areas and fist snow in the lees made for variable but mostly good skiing. S aspects were heavy and wet, noted around 11am both days, with a weak refreeze overnight. Ski pen 15cm into moist snow through the large cedar forests on exit made for heavy turns. Several size 1 wet loose avalanches witnessed along the SE chutes in Cabin Bowl in the afternoon of March 2nd. The NW side of Cabin appeared loaded with only one older size 1 slab noted (in pics) and nothing released recently. We avoided these steeper, connected slopes. Pit dug near the hut on the N slope. Buried surface hoar layer down 95cms overlies a melt freeze crust. Stubborn to trigger but would be capable of producing very large avalanches if triggered.

A fine sunny day for a toodle in the flathead region. We were able to drive to KM 46.5 on the McClatchie FSR, there is active logging in the area so make sure you have your radio and call your KM if you head up that way. We headed towards Next of Kin to investigate the sensitivity of the Persistent Slab problem that has been ongoing in this region. We found 30-65 cm of snow on the weak layer, and had multiple audible whumpfs while travelling on foot through mellow sheltered terrain between 1800-2000m. Rutschblock tests on North and south aspects produced easy repeatable results RB 1 and RB 2 whole block failures. The persistent weak layer in this area is 10 cm thick and consists of 15-20 mm surface hoar and facets over a supportive crust. This layer is not showing any signs of healing, and is widespread in the tree-line. While natural avalanche activity is tapering off in the flathead, human triggered avalanches are still likely. Below treeline is still very thin coverage, and warm temperatures have made the snowpack become isothermal. Alpine features have been largely affected by continued moderate winds. Loaded areas are suspect to have a wind slab problem, and wind stripped areas are a mix of ice, sastrugi, and rock. Unfortunately the reality is that where good ski quality exists, a reactive persistent slab problem is a dominating concern. This sent us home early with our skins still on, and with no travel in avalanche terrain today.

Remote triggered a size one slab avalanche on a 35 degree North facing slope . 120 cm deep, approx 10 meters wide, ran 30 meters. No rider involvement

Two quick snowpack pits were dug in simple lower angle terrain in open treed area, at the foot of the planetary ridge area. Entire area was very wind affected with a continuous wind crust on most terrain travelled (skis). Wind direction seems to be consistently ESE through the basin. West slope pit 10:30 am 85 cm deep 8 cm wind skin 39cm consolidated Soft snow 2cm sun crust 15cm consolidated firm snow 13cm crust Compression tests: no signs of collapse North slope pit 11:23 am 83cm deep 5cm wind skin 47 cm consolidated snow 1cm sun crust 15cm consolidated snow 5cm buried surface hoar Compression tests: Sudden collapse at first shoulder tap, non planar, at first crust (52cm depth) PST: failure halfway through the block

CT 11 SC, on 6mm SH sitting on a (0.5 to 1cm thick, P- hard) crust down 72cm from the surface. Observed 1F hard small (1mm) facets below the decomposing crust- down 72cm from surface or at 198cm of HS 270cm. Observed same mod force result CT SC twice, 2 CTs, at this location in sheltered treed opening near ridgetop.

Toured inner/outer Mongolia. Warm conditions and strong sun had it feeling like spring. Observed several point releases (no obvious crowns) appeared to be triggered by solar input on Mammoth Head / Mongolia headwall. No other signs of instability while breaking trail or descending.

Failure at 20cm after 5 hard hits between two soft slabs on what looked like a very thin surface hoar layer. Interestingly,the failure was not on the 45 cm ice crust layer. Only one test was done, on low angle terrain ~10°, NE aspect, in thin trees. Significant whumpfing observed under skier weight on low angle and convex roll terrain. We suspected the whumpfing was from the 40cm ice layer, but our test didn't fail at this layer.

Strong winds drifting snow down slope. Cornices, 200m shooting crack, whumpfing.

1550m elevation N Aspect -2 degrees, 20-30km wind, cloudy with light flurries Just above Heartley Lk 150cm snow depth / 50cm wind slab / Persistent Slab 30cm above surface All active problems (Wind Slab / Persistent slab) identified Persistent slab at 30cm above surface, with 70cm storm snow on top. Then another crust with 50cm extremely reactive wind slap on top. Massive whoomphing on north facing slopes and pin wheels on south facing slopes. No result on shovel compression test. But extremely reactive when stepped on/ jumped on top of slap. Almost immediate results with thick uniformed slab sliding on crust. Easily slid well pushed with shovel. Sketchy out there. Stayed to extremely mellow terrain.

Witnessed many recent avalanches from steep alpine slopes from before Mondays snow. One small slope slid from above us, and it is possible we triggered the very recent avalanche in the photos from well back in the trees. This one stood out due to the destructive force. It took out small trees, and blew branches well into mature timber. It released on a steep east facing slope, and pulled out the slope below it. It was strong reinforcement that we need to stay well back from steep slopes for a while.

Riding around the lake area in the trees, Set off several remote avalanches. Day was stormy & very windy. Raining in the staging area and pellet/sleet type snow as you gained elevation. Heard lots of whumpfing in the alpine/sub alpine. Noticed shooting cracks along the trails on the steeper banks Unable to get pictures due to strong winds & wet heavy snowfall causing limited visibility

Used Caution as we noticed plenty of fresh movement on the way in. Used good travel habits to check out a mellow area to play in. Another group on the ridge above triggered a size 2-3 avalanche on a slope shortly after we passed.

Riding all weekend was amazing, made sure to be conservative with our terrain choices and adapt to terrain as we came upon it. Lots of reactive slopes and drainages still, evidence of smaller size avalanches along trail banks. Had a 2.5 avalanche remote trigger while we were travelling alone the treeline opposite to the ridge. More snow in the forecast so definitely remain conservative with terrain choice

Elv 1620-2200m Aspect ne Alpine to below treeline. Temp -9 warming to -3 Winds nil, no evidence of recent wind Sunny some cloud. Surface snow low-medium density treeline and below. Numerous settlements and shooting cracks especially near convexities. Several class 1 and 2s, one class 1 occurred sympathetically when I parked my sled in the gravel pit. Several class 2s below treeline on steep open and treed (burned) areas . Slide surface was old crust at 40-60 cm depth; Slide widths 40 -80 m wide. Most ran out to bench immediately below but no further. Most of alpine had slide previously. No evidence of recent cornice failures. ECTP12-sudden planar collapse on crust with some surface hoar. elv 1900 m. Several easy hand shears on route up skin trail. Route finding was key to being safe, placed skin trail on low angle terrain and/ or dense trees and avoided steep slopes and steep slopes above. Skied only low to moderate angle terrain (<27 deg) .Epic and entertaining day.

Did an ECT test on a North Facing, 22 degree slope on Forum Ridge near the top of the wind loaded burned area (from Kenow Fire) at elevation 1870m. Snow depth 185 cm. We got a small slightly resistant fracture 45 cm down on hard melt/freeze crust after only 5 taps from wrist (ECTN-05), and some resistant propagation for 30 cm after 20 strokes from elbow (ECTP-20). A subsequent shovel pry test resulted in a sudden and easy failure of the block 45 cm down on the melt/freeze crust. Good powder skiing on the north facing slopes, but due to the weird ECT results (corroborated by a visitor safety specialist we met in the parking lot), we stuck to skiing slopes 25 degrees and under, and avoided any convex rolls.

Amazing day riding with friends. Several natural avalanches observed 20-50 cm crowns on convex rolls and steeper wind loaded terrain. Also had a remote trigger on a slope from riding along the ridge top. Saw a few larger slides in the alpine but most avalanches were at tree line in sheltered areas. Frequent settlements when regrouping. Very touchy so stuck to low angle terrain.

Great skiing in Hilda's today. No signs of instability, but still rode conservatively, taking a ridgeline down with less exposure.