Weather and Avalanche Log for Thu Jan 16, 2025
5-7 degrees warmer starting
Some places at yesterday's hi temp
24-25
Woody Obs
Date
Activity
Skiing
Observed freshly formed surface hoar near the top of Woody Ridge, 9800-10000 ft, W facing. Winds were light out of the N
Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Woody Ridge
Observer Name
Beartooth Powder Guides
Spooky in Specimen
Date
Activity
Skiing
Unsurprisingly there’s still a shallow weak snowpack up specimen creek and the adjacent drainages. I had lots of collapsing today, especially in wind affected areas near ridge tops. This coincided with an ectp23 I got on a south facing slope near the head of Wikiup creek. The snowpack has a similar set up to the rest of the advisory area with basal facets underneath a dense slab, but overall shallower.
The biggest hazard out there is still probably the low cover and boot top potential, I was tip toeing over downed trees all day.
Region
Southern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Specimen Creek
Observer Name
Wyatt Hubbard
Surface hoar was on the snow surface today. It likely wont' survive to be buried. Sunshine on south aspects was already destroying it.
Snowpit and ECT result from small slope just above Beehive Creek at 8200 ft.
Facets in thinner snowpack areas are larger, weaker, and could possibly cause an avalnache
Snowpit from the top of Tyler's slope in Beehive Basin, W facing, 9200 ft. This is representative of an area with thin snow that is weaker
Snowprofile from the top of Tyler's slope in Beehive Basin. W facing, 9200 ft
Deep vs Shallow Beehive area
Date
Activity
Skiing
Went looking for shallow and weak snow. Found it in the small steep slope just above the creek not far from the TH (HS ~80-90cm, fist hard facets near the ground, ECTP18).
Then dug near the top of Tyler's where it is typically weak. HS 103 cm, F+ hardness facets about a foot above the ground, ECTP28).
In Middle Basin we found snow depths of 150 cm and 200 cm.
No avalanches seen and we had good visibility. (one group was skiing in upper Bear)
No collapsing or cracking either.
It seems unlikely to trigger avalanches on facets in deeper areas. It seems possible in thinner areas. How possible? Not sure exactly, but the odds are decreasing the longer things sit without more snow or wind loading.
The primary concerns moving forward are wind slabs and storm slabs unless there is some major storm with a lot of wind and water.
Generally Moderate danger but we could be moving towards Low with time and depending on the weather.
Snow quality - lots of good powder, but lots of wind affected snow above treeline. Sunny slopes got damp today.
Region
Northern Madison
Location (from list)
Beehive Basin
Observer Name
Staples & Staples & Sunny