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GNFAC Avalanche Advisory for Fri Mar 28, 2014

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion

Northern Madison Range

The mountains near Big Sky received 12 inches of snow yesterday containing 0.9 inches of SWE. Most of this snow fell during a 7 hour period. This area received 0.4 inches of SWE the previous day.  Avalanches will be likely within the new snow especially on any wind loaded slope. The Big Sky Ski Patrol easily triggered shallow wind slabs yesterday with ski cuts.

The circle shows my pit location on a south-facing slope.  We did not ski this slope because my stability tests were inconclusive on a layer of depth hoar found one foot off the ground. I do not trust this layer and try to avoid areas where thin, rockier terrain underlies the snowpack, which this slope has. Photo: GNFAC

Bridger Range, 2014-03-24