Naturally triggered Avalanche on North North East aspect. Heavy wind loading evident. The slide appeared to be recent, 24 to 48 hours old.
Trip Planning for Dillon Area
Snow Observations-Dillon Area
Northern Gallatin
Emigrant Peak
Emigrant peak observations
Triggered a small slide underneath the cornice of the southeast chute off of Emigrant peak. The slide was 50 ft wide, 4 inches deep, and ran for about 100 ft. The slide was not large enough to knock you off your feet (D1). The latest storm had deposited about 12 inches of new snow underneath the cornice.
other older slides were visible on a wind loaded NW oriented slopes at the bottom of the basin. Still feels like winter out there with lots of light snow up high!
Full Snow Observation Report
Relevant Photos
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Snowmobiled up to 9000ft, skinned up West face of Comet to 10K ft and skied low angle trees back to sled. Heavy windload with cross loading common on this slope. Dug a pit at 9200 ft, W aspect, 28 degree slope. Height of snow was 110 cm, about 3 and a half feet deep. Photo shows hand hardness profile in snowpit with faceted weak layers of concern in mid and lower snowpack. Extended column test had propagation on 18 (ECTP 18) on large facets (see photo) around a crust about 40 cm up from ground. No cracking or collapsing observed on tour. Good coverage for this time of year on this slope.
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Tour up Maverick Mountain before they open for the season to check how the snowpack is shaping up in the Pioneers; snowpack representative of backcountry. Got a Christmas eve gift when 6-8 inches of maverick 'white thunder' (+/- 5% density) fell overnight adding 30-50% to the total depth of snow. Dug quick pit on SE aspect 8100 feet and there is about 12-16 inches of low density snow with poles and skis going to ground. Dug a little higher on NE aspect 8200 feet where the snowpack is about twice as deep; about 2 feet plus and has a soft-ish slab in the mid-pack. We performed stability tests. ECTP12 10cm off ground. Softer slab on top of loose faceted snow on top of a hard crust made for propagation in the extended column test results. Surprisingly no collapsing and minimal, very localized cracking right around the skis. Ski quality greatly exceeded expectations!
