23-24

Cooke City, natural avalanche activity

Date

From email: "Natural avalanches observed near Cooke City today.  At least 3 big PWL/ deep slab avalanches.  All northerly aspects, mid elevations.  

Also, observed one upper elevation north facing slide that looked more like a storm slab."

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Republic Mountain
Observer Name
Beau Fredlund

Wind slabs in the Bridgers

Fairy Lake
Bridger Range
Code
N-R2-D2-I
Latitude
45.90430
Longitude
-110.95800
Notes

From obs: "Today I saw evidence of Multiple N-R2-D2-I avalanches in the fairy lake zone. All three were NE facing, around 8800’. 2 slabs in Fraizer basin and one in the basin to the south. All three looked to be from 3/3-3/4 storm cycle"

 

Number of slides
2
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
2
D size
2
Bed Surface
I - Interface between new and old snow
Problem Type
Wind-Drifted Snow
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Multiple Avalanches
Advisory Year

Natural Avalanche in Cooke City

Date
Activity
Skiing

East face of Republic Mountain above Erma Mine Cabins. 8800 ft natural avalanche just below the ridge. 3-4 foot crown, Apx 100’ across, ran approximately 1000 feet down the creek bed. Appeared to be from earlier in the morning possibly when the avalanche slid off the north face of Republic, as it had a light dusting of snow over the debris. This start zone was just over the ridge from the North facing 9:14 am avalanche but I don’t think the start zones were connected. 

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Republic Mountain
Observer Name
Dave Eiermann

Weekend Wind slabs in the Bridgers

Date
Activity
Skiing

Today I saw evidence of Multiple N-R2-D2-I avalanches in the fairy lake zone. All three were NE facing, around 8800’. 2 slabs in Fraizer basin and one in the basin to the south. All three looked to be from 3/3-3/4 storm cycle

We skied in the love chutes and Fraizer basin today with No collapsing or cracking. 

Region
Bridger Range
Observer Name
Ty Guarino

Mixed Messages on Cinnamon Mountain

Date
Activity
Skiing

Toured up to the Cinnamon Mountain Lookout today. In a small meadow along the trail I got a small whumph, with a crack propagating out 5-10 feet all around me. HS was around 30-40 cm in this meadow. HS rose rapidly with elevation and I had no other large collapses throughout the day, but noticed some localized cracking in recently formed windslabs, and rapid warming of the snow surface in the sun all day. I dug a pit about 200' down from the summit, directly south facing, and got unremarkable test scores from a scary structure (full profile is in snowpilot). With the several warning signs I had seen, I chose to take my test results with a grain of salt, and ski a conservative line.

Region
Southern Madison
Location (from list)
Other place
Observer Name
Wyatt Hubbard