Snow Observations List

From FB message 1/19: "In between redstreak peak and white peak... The whole slope cracked... I seen the cracks on my way up but everything was happening so fast I couldn't tell if I was the reason it cracked until I watched the video... the one I stopped on I put my leg in the crack and went to my knee inside the crack"

Screenshots from videos sent in messenger

Snow depth 160 and generally stabile conditions with the lower layers gaining some strength at this location. ECTX x3 in this area. Old wind slab observed in the area but no signs of instability on that layer. 

ECTP22 at 20CM. Bottom layer is a high concern to me. We experienced whumphs the entire walk in from the parking lot and had a pretty sketchy time attempting to ski a glade directly above fairy lake. The refrozen snow above the weak layer also adds some false security at a glance. 

Aspect: East

Elevation: ~9000ft

Snow Depth: 155cm

Pit:

• 155-20cm 1F
• 20-0cm 4F/Fist
• ICT7 (Thin Crust layer at 135cm)
• ECTX

Snow:

• Wind affect up higher. Stayed out of bowl as our chief concern was triggering a wind slab loaded on the crust layer at 135cm. Did have shooting cracks at the top wind affected area. Great snow otherwise!

Today, we braved the frigid temperatures and toured out of the Bradley's Meadow gate north of Bridger Bowl. Above Bradley's Meadow, we triggered a small soft slab avalanche on a south facing aspect around 7800'. This avalanche broke in a wind drift, 4" deep in low density new snow, likely on a sun crust or near-surface facets. 

We toured up the Ramp and dug a snowpit on north facing aspect at 8200' Here we found a strong, deep snowpack just over 5' deep. Under 4" of new snow, we found a decomposing melt-freeze crust with near-surface facets, and underneath, a mostly right-side-up snowpack structure. The facets near the bottom of the snowpack have gained strength and were hard and rounding. We did not get unstable results in our pit tests here.

Additionally, during steady snowfall from late December through early January, in the Bridger Range and mountains near Bozeman we saw minimal (if any) avalanches break on weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack. This minimal activity combined with what we have been seeing in snowpits indicates deeper avalanches are unlikely.

Cracking within shallow wind slabs was the only sign on instability we saw today. We chose to ski 30-35º terrain, assessing for and steering clear of wind drifted snow as we made our way down.

Light snow fell all day (S1) and winds were calm on the ridge. There was also evidence of the strong winds earlier in the week in the form of large drifts in unusual locations across lower elevations. These drifts are worth being cautious of, though they are now stubborn to unreactive and being disguised by the new snow.

Dug a pit on divide peak on a southwest facing aspect that was about 210cm deep. ECTX, PSTX on sun crust 15cm down from surface that the new snow had fallen on. Entire snowpack 4F-1F from the thin sun crust to the buried facet layer than began around 165cm deep. Saw evidence of some wind slabs beginning to form near the ridge line. It was cold. 

Skied a few laps above Deer Creek today, E through SE aspects between 7000' and 8250'

Only about an inch of new snow in past 24 hours

Calm to light winds from E; blowing and drifting snow filling the skin track on isolated, wind-exposed terrain features above 7400'

No recent avalanches, whumphing, or shooting cracks observed

Average ski penetration 15-20 cm above 7000'

Dug a test pit on an E aspect at 8200'; HS 110 cm

ECTN 28 down 25 cm from top

Pit showed poor snowpack structure (30 cm of F-hard, 2mm facets at base) with 1F-hard slab sitting above. We were unable to affect the facet layer with our ECT and we were too cold to do a PST! A little extra force after the ECT did get a sudden collapse at the ground. 

Toured up W. Facing terrain on Mt. Nemesis coming out of the hut. Full range of sun crust, rime crust, wind crust, and consolidated powder between SW to NW aspects. Snow structure felt consolidated and stable in most areas but became hollow and slabby in rocky terrain ~8,800’ . We turned back and found a lower angle path down to the skin track.

We rode around the north and south sides of Mt Jefferson, and Yale Creek. The danger has definitely dropped and the snowpack has stabilized a lot since I was last here on New Year's Eve when we experienced big thunderous collapses. The peak instability was around the first week of January. We could see evidence of just a few slides from that time. All the snowfall during that time made conditions dangerous then....but stable now. Since Xmas eve, this area has received snow containing 4.5-6.5 inche of water.

Today we didn't see any recent avalanches. We didn't experience any collapsing or cracking. We had stubborn stability tests with columns that took a lot of hard hits to break even where the snowpack was thinner.

I'm not ready to climb up steep chutes on Jefferson, but I'm feeling really comfortable in many other areas - especially places with a 5-6 ft deep snowpack.

Winds were moving a little snow. One wind slab/drift produced a shooting crack but we couldn't get any others to crack.

We skied to the top of Mt. Ellis via the ridge from the north. There was light wind on the ridge, otherwise calm. Snowing steadily this morning and tapered off by noon-1pm with skies clearing after noon. There were 2-4" of low density new snow. We dug a pit off the ridgeline on a northeast facing slope at 7,800' and one pit at the top of the burned slope, east facing at 8,100'. Profiles attached.

The first pit had an ECTX and the second had propagation with extra force. There were 2mm facets 30cm off the ground in both pits which were slightly softer in the higher pit. Snow depth was 3-4 feet up high and around 2 feet lower in the thicker trees and along the trails.

Beyond what we saw today, evidence of good stability in the northern Gallatin Range also includes not having heard of any avalanches (or only 1-2 small pockets) breaking on the weak layers near the bottom of the snowpack during the 2-3 weeks of steady snowfall from late Dec to early Jan. The snowpack has had a break from loading for the last few days which has allowed avalanche potential to continue to become less likely.

In general, stability was good and we felt good skiing slopes steeper than 30-35 degrees, while exposing only one person at a time.

Another day of nice skiing on Mt. Ellis.  Dug a quick pit to the ground at the top of the burn, east aspect.  100 cm total snow depth, top 20 cms was was light snow with increasing in density with depth.  At 20 cms there was a bump in density and no real "crust" layer.  We skied some steeper slopes and saw no signs of instability.

Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol shared this photo of wind transport on Saddle Peak on 1/16/25.

Large wind transport in Spanish peaks

We rode under the full length of Skyline ridge under all the south facing slide paths. 

The only avalanches we spotted were from 1-2 weeks ago. No cracking or collapsing observed.

Snowpack

• Depths ranged from about 1m to 1.5 m. The snow really got shallow as we rode west and down the cabin creek drainage. Above 8800ft and closer to the Teepee/Cabin divide, coverage was great.
• The layer of facets from early December is much weaker where the snow is less than 1 m deep and gaining strength where the snow is around 1.5m deep. 
• Conditions didn't seem dangerous. Remotely triggering a slide seems very unlikely. The odds of triggering a slide on those facets seems pretty low but still something that could happen. 
• What mainly felt dangerous is letting your guard down. With tracks everywhere, sunshine, great traction, and supportable snow, we felt that it would be easy to be complacent. If an avalanche happened, then we'd be unprepared.
• The odds of triggering a persistent slab avalanche will continue to step down unless there is another loading event (ie - more wind and snow).

Moving foward

• The danger and avalanche conditions will be dependent on weather. A small amount of snow and very cold weather is expected in the next 5 or so days
• Wind could still form more wind slabs
• The inch or two or three of snow that could come Fri/Sat will be subjected to bitter cold weather and could create a new faceted layer...time will tell
• Continue to maintain safe travel practices: exposing only one person at a time to avalanche terrain, having everyone else watch from a safe location, ensuring everyone has rescue gear and knows how to use it.

Overall impression - The snowpack in this area probably isn't as stable or strong as it is in the Northern Madison Range closer to Big Sky. The snowpack is probably stronger and more stable than on Lionhead. 

This morning we went touring at Hebgen up to the ridgelines near the northern end of the lake. Winds were calm for the duration of our tour. Snow depths are still pretty shallow relative to much of the advisory area, around 95cm HS on the ridgelines at 9000 feet. We experienced no cracking or collapsing but kept a high degree of suspicion due to the shallow, weak snowpack and stayed off avalanche terrain. 

We encountered widespread surface hoar on east aspects above 8000 feet. There were enough intermittent clouds and lack of winds that I suspect it could be buried by the next round of snowfall. Time will tell!

Lots of snow moving around in Hyalite this morning! Strong winds were moving snow at/above treeline, Lee aspects getting loaded. Observed a fresh slide on the north side of Mt Blackmore, crown was already filling in, but looked to be a foot or two deep in steep rocky terrain to the skiers left of the north couloir. Some big snow bombs coming out of the trees on the trail right onto your head.

Observed freshly formed surface hoar near the top of Woody Ridge, 9800-10000 ft, W facing. Winds were light out of the N

Unsurprisingly there’s still a shallow weak snowpack up specimen creek and the adjacent drainages. I had lots of collapsing today, especially in wind affected areas near ridge tops. This coincided with an ectp23 I got on a south facing slope near the head of Wikiup creek. The snowpack has a similar set up to the rest of the advisory area with basal facets underneath a dense slab, but overall shallower.

The biggest hazard out there is still probably the low cover and boot top potential, I was tip toeing over downed trees all day.

Went looking for shallow and weak snow. Found it in the small steep slope just above the creek not far from the TH (HS ~80-90cm, fist hard facets near the ground, ECTP18).

Then dug near the top of Tyler's where it is typically weak. HS 103 cm, F+ hardness facets about a foot above the ground, ECTP28).

In Middle Basin we found snow depths of 150 cm and 200 cm. 

No avalanches seen and we had good visibility. (one group was skiing in upper Bear)

No collapsing or cracking either.

It seems unlikely to trigger avalanches on facets in deeper areas. It seems possible in thinner areas. How possible? Not sure exactly, but the odds are decreasing the longer things sit without more snow or wind loading. 

The primary concerns moving forward are wind slabs and storm slabs unless there is some major storm with a lot of wind and water.

Generally Moderate danger but we could be moving towards Low with time and depending on the weather. 

Snow quality  - lots of good powder, but lots of wind affected snow above treeline. Sunny slopes got damp today.

Saw cracking of cornices on the ridgeline NE of Mount Blackmore. Just a little nudge released a significant portion. A good reminder to give cornices room above and below.

Other than that, it was a beautiful day of skiing with sun, moderate temps, and pow. 👍