New Snow and Wind at Buck Ridge

We rode up Buck Ridge towards the Bear Creek Wilderness boundary, along the way we found 6 to 10 inches of new snow that fell over the last 24 hours. In many areas this new snow has formed large drifts even in treed areas. Behind McAtee Basin, we saw a small natural wind slab avalanche on an east facing slope, and we saw a natural wind slab in Bear Creek. From a nearby ridge line we could see snow being transported at ridge tops. On a small test slope near Muddy Creek we intentionally triggered several small avalanches in wind loaded terrain. In First Yellow Mule we dug a snow pit on a north facing slope, at 9,300’. We saw ECTN 13 and 14 scores below the new snow.

Strong north wind prevailed through most of the day at or near ridge lines. We saw lots of evidence of both cross loading and wind loading on many slopes.