Northern Madison

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

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.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2016, a Yellowstone Club (YC) Ski Patroller triggered an avalanche on a wind-loaded slope which released on his second turn. The slide broke 2-4 feet deep, 300 feet wide and carried him through a terrain trap of thick trees. He was partially buried 300 vertical feet below in the toe of the debris. His partners reached him within three minutes, but the trauma was fatal.

OVC with 10k cloud ceiling in the morning (S-1) which cleared to BKN high clouds by 1pm. No signs of wind transport from the previous 24hrs (tree tops holding snow, little/no snow surface clues at the prayer flags and below). 

We took a quick look at the upper ~1m of the snowpack: generally non-consolidated fist-hardness snow. Small, dry-loose slides were observed in Going Home Shoot and on the west facing wall of Middle Basin. We were able to move the top 5-10cm of snow in short, occasional sluffs but did not experience any other signs of instability. No other signs of avalanche activity could be spotted in the area. By 3pm, wind on the summit of Lone Peak was transporting lots of snow.