Cooke City, Scotch Bonnet: We skied up a south facing slope to 10,000 and had shooting crackings in the new, wind drifted snow. The new snow is not bonding well to the old snow surface and it is breaking where it has been blown into slabs. We were careful on our ascent to avoid steep terrain. My inclinometer got a work out. #gnfacobs

Today (1/20/19) we went to the Bridgers to look at the stability of the new snow. Last night they got 8-10” of snow equal to 1-1.5” of snow water equivalent. Stability tests showed variable results (photo of ECTP14) and we had subtle cracking while breaking trail. The heavy new load of snow alone was enough to keep our objectives to low angle slopes. On the drive back we saw 1-2’ deep natural and skier triggered avalanches on Saddle Peak and Argentina bowl. These types of slides are easy to trigger for a couple days and will be larger with more wind loading and snow tonight. #gnfacobs #bridgers