Snow Observations List

We rode over Daisy Pass and out to the pass between Wolverine and Abundance. Low on Daisy Road along the steep creek walls we saw three recent 2'+ deep avalanches. each 70-100' wide. HS-R4-D2-O. One looked within the last day or two and the other two were maybe 3-4 days old. Triggers unknown, there were various ages of sled/snowbike tracks nearby. We saw older crowns (4-7 days old) on east and north Miller Mtn.

Between Miller and Wolverine there was a recent large avalanche that I would guess was triggered yesterday. 3-6' deep, 250-300' wide. HS-R4-D2.5-O. Video and photos attached. Given the recent human triggered and natural avalanches, we expect dangerous conditions will continue to start the week.

Partly sunny skies, light to moderate winds with some stronger gusts and snow transport at ridgelines. Snow surface had a thick crust on any slopes that were not fully shaded yesterday. Rode back to town at noon and snow surface was still mostly frozen. Cloud cover increased through the day.

Deep Avalanches all over the mountain in multiple spots. One was spread across the Ross Peak approach gully and debris ran all the way to the bottom of the gully.

A natural avalanche was witnessed on the north side of Republic Mtn. on 3/9 at 4:54pm. It appeared to break around 3 feet deep.

Pic 1:  E aspect, 8900'.

Pic. 2:  NE aspect, 9300'

Pic. 3: SE aspect, 9000'.

Pic. 4:  E aspect, 8800'.

Pic. 5:  SE aspect, 8800'

Pic. 6:  E aspect, 9100'.

Pic. 7:  E aspect, 8800'

Pic. 8:  N aspect, 9600'

Pic. 9:  E aspect, 9100'

Saw a couple avalanches today in the Woody Creek Cabin area 

First was in Woody Creek, right by the waterfall. D2, crown was up to 5 feet deep. NE facing 

The other was on the backside of High Hayden, in Pilot Creek. This one ran probably 1000 feet. SE facing 

Natural avalanche in Beehive Basin. On eastern aspect. (the same aspect as yesterday's "intentional cornice drop avalanche", 3/10th of a mile north) guessing the elevation is around 9,900-9,650ft.

From IG 3/9/24: "Currently on the throne. Things warmed up quickly this morning. Wet loose, east aspect, 8500’, 10:30"

From the ridge between Blackmore and Elephant we saw multiple natural large slab avalanches in the upper South Cotttonwood drainage. More natural avalanches not shown, mostly on northerly aspects. Appeared fairly recent and deep. Decided against skiing Alex Lowe and opted for good turns on Blackmore. Warm with moderate/strong southwest winds, minor transport.

Skied into Frazier basin today. Saw multiple wet loose slides on the SE face across the basin. Winds were stripping many ridge lines and loading N aspects. No avalanches related to wind loading were observed. Pit at the bottom of the basin on a SE aspect around 8200 feet had HS 185 and showed Ectx. 

We saw the slide happen.   Maybe 200 yards wide 4 to 10 ft deep crown.  Triggered by a guy riding along in the run out zone, he was partially buried and got himself out. One of the kids has some photos in this phone, we will try to send them shortly.

We rode to Round Lake and around the north and west side of Sheep, and back out through Round Lake. There was a big avalanche on the northeast side of Sheep that was previously not reported. It was there this morning so maybe happened yesterday. 6-8'+ deep, 500' wide R4-D3-O.

This morning we saw previous avalanches on Henderson Mtn. in better light and got a photo of one on the lower Henderson Bench. Showing wide propagation through thick trees.

Temps were warm under clear skies with calm wind. Snow surface was getting moist in the afternoon on sunny slopes.

Saw a large slide (D2.5, R3 or 4) on Ross East shoulder that likely occurred in the March 3/4 timeframe. 3 to 4 feet deep crown in places. Looked around at the bed surface which was nearly to the rock slabs underneath.

There were two skier-triggered avalanches on Saddle Peak today. The first was relatively small, estimated depth of less than a foot. The second occurred later in the day and was much more significant. 

Downhill winds transported snow all day, loading wind-drifted snow onto slopes at upper and mid-elevations. At 1 PM, a solo skier descended Quarter Saddle toward Spencer's and Going Home Chute. The skier released a wind-slab avalanche that broke about a foot deep approximately 300 feet above the large cliff band on Saddle. The first release triggered a secondary slab that broke more widely (estimated 200' wide) and deeper (1-3 feet deep). The avalanche ran over the large cliffs into Going Home Chute. Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol interviewed the skier who triggered the avalanche along with a representative from GCSAR and the GNFAC. Based on the interview, the group believed it was unlikely that additional skiers were involved. Because of the interview, concerns about scene safety, and the timing of the avalanche, no search was performed on the ground. The team used binoculars from within the boundary of the ski area to look for obvious indications of a burial.

9500 ft E facing slope in Beehive basin.  Dug to investigate the basal facet layer on the apron, found HS 120-140 cm with rounding facets on the ground, ECT 23 on pencil firm density layer above the facets, ECTx  on basal layer.  Chose ascent route in a slope concavity to avoid potential shallow trigger points.  Cut a cornice prior to descent and struck a shallow (18 inches )  trigger point on top of some rocks which propagated about 500 ft wide across multiple ribs and 400 vert D3 R4.  Did not recognize the razor thin margin for error on this slope, scouring in the start zone which created the shallow trigger point, or the propagation potential in this zone.  

I meant to add the crown depth 18 inches to 6 feet

Saw this avalanche in the Rasta Chutes today, not sure if it was already sent in. Here is a picture from across the valley. The avalanche ran almost to the bottom of the chute, covering sled tracks heading into tradgenic. 

We rode out to the avalanche that was triggered yesterday on Henderson Mtn. It broke over 2000' wide (measured on GPS) and all the way up to the ridgeline, 6-10' deep and maybe 12-15' deep at the deepest section. There were a couple hundred feet of slope that had not slide between this one and the similarly large slide to the north last weekend. The deepest debris was probably 15-20'.

We also saw a fresh huge avalanche on the south side of Scotch Bonnet that happened today or late yesterday. 4-6' deep and 300' wide. Both slides were R4-D3-O. There was another fresh slide in the Rastas (one that didn't slide last weekend) that looked fresh yesterday or today, 4' deep hard slab, R3-D2-O, and one small but deep slab on the north side of Scotch Bonnet, 6' deep x 30' wide, R1-D1.5.

We could see evidence of previous large avalanches in the cirque on Republic Mtn. and in east Woody Creek south of town. There were widespread avalanches along Henderson Bench as well, below the steep break over in the trees, 3'+ deep breaking across multiple terrain features through thick trees, most of the bench slid, and appeared to have happened last weekend.

On my drive to Cooke City I saw old slab avalanches in YNP near Mammoth and on Abiathar and Ampitheater among other places. These appeared to have happened earlier in the week. I also saw a more fresh looking persistent slab avalanche on Barronette, 2-3' deep and as wide as its terrain feature, 100-200' (photo).

Pretty scary. Stay safe out there.

We spotted several large crowns in the Northern Bridgers today.  All appeared natural from the last few days.  The snowpack has changed significantly since our last visit at the beginning of the week.  A soft wind slab is now forming on top of the loose dry powder that fell recently.  We did not have anything move on our runs but did have some collapsing on the skin track and boot pack. 

On a tour up Middle Peak, I saw recent avalanches, with large propagation in Middle Basin and Beehive Basin.

We rode from Battle Ridge into the base of the Throne, dug a pit low on the East Face, climbed to the ridge, dug a south facing pit and skied down via the East Face. Neither pit had any dramatic results, with ECTN26 and ECTX on the lower weak layers. 

Downhill winds were drifting a good bit of snow at lower elevations. We mostly found stripped slopes and wind effect, but did find a few deeper drifts. There was a small and thin avalanche low on the east face that looks to have pulled out with this downhill wind loading. Approximately 25 ft x 25 ft vertical and ~6" deep. 

No other avalanches observation. No cracking or collapse.