Terrain Management and Safe Travel Protocols

We ascended the north ramp of Trapper Ridge to the summit ridgeline. There were no signs of instability, and we did not see any recent avalanche activity in the nearby mountains of the Southern Madison Range or the Lionhead Ridge area. We dug a pit on a north-facing slope at 8600 feet elevation (ECTX and PST35/100end). The facets deep in the snowpack show no hardening trend, and they maintain their ability to propagate failure easily. Currently, it is simply a matter of the persistent weak layer having adjusted to the load they are supporting and being buried more deeply; thus, initiation of failure is more difficult. Large avalanches remain possible. The sun and warm temperatures affected the snow surface in the eastern and southern aspects (and I assume the western). A cool breeze kept any wet snow hazard from developing before we left at 2 PM. I suspect it did not develop today.

Of note, surface snow was weakening on northern aspects with a 3-4 cm layer of near surface facets and surface hoar. We will have to see how this behaves when it gets buried by new snow starting tomorrow.