Observation Date: 02/19/2012
Route/Location:
Riding ridgeline down from the top of Southeast aspect to the saddle(middle) of bowl 3.
Weather:
Snowing. Heavy at times.
Wind:
Quite windy, Gusts near 25-30mph
New Snow: 6-12″
Avalanche Activity:
Dug a pit on N, NE aspect. Pit depth near 6 feet. Top 12 in. was powder. Rest of the pit was uniformly consolidated at Pencil hardness.
Top layer moved at ECT 14, Q2. No signs of weakness after that.
Great, solid cohesive layer all the way to the ground. New snow was bonded to recent hoar layer decently, 1 finger hardness. Concern was new snow sluffing as indicated in 2/17 advisory.
Hiked up to top of SE aspect. Rode ridgeline down to saddle ‘ski cutting’ SE aspect. Set a 40 yard wide sluff slide down to the bottom. Right side of fracture had an actual crown, about 8 inches deep. Slope was estimated steeper than 50 degrees.
Other Comments:
Two comments on the way up described the event…
“This snow is decently dense.” “Yup, right on the borderline”
“There is some definite wind loading on this side”
This reported activity fit perfectly into observations given in the 2/17 advisory and other reports from around the area before the weekend.
Observer: Brett K
The West Central Montana Avalanche Center is hosted on the Lolo National Forest with support from the Bitterroot and Clearwater National Forests. The advisory content is the sole responsibility of the Forest Service and does not apply to operating ski areas. Avalanche specialists can be contacted by calling 406-329-3752 or by