Southern Madison

We rode to the divide between Cabin and Teepee Creeks and then the fog/clouds set in and we couldn't go higher or further out.

From the moment we left the trail there was WIDESPREAD collapsing all day long. Snowpits were consistently 3-4 feet deep and the weak layer usually a foot above the ground. At higher elevations, I suspect that the weak layer is closer to 2 feet above the ground. Because of the widespread collapsing and very bad visibility, we were hyper-aware of slope angles so that we didn't inadvertently get on or under avalanche terrain.

Small slopes at low elevations were avalanching including some along Hwy 191 in YNP. It's always a bad sign when road cuts are avalanching. 

We stayed away from ALL AVALANCHE TERRAIN.

The good news - the powder is incredible, the coverage is excellent, and this snow is exactly what we need to heal the weak layer. Unfortunately, avalanche conditions have to get worse before they get better.

We observed many large whumps and shooting cracks while headed up the meadows of Cinnamon mountain today, several of which were large enough to shake nearby saplings. These collapses were likely triggering on the recently buried layer of basal facets. Conditions included warm temps, light SW winds, overcast to obscured cloud cover, and S-1 to S1 precip including steady graupel. Nothing particularly surprising considering the conditions in nearby areas, and we chose to keep our terrain choices conservative.

While doing stability tests on the bottom 100 ft of the Bacon Rind Runout, we observed multiple "whumps" and a 10-12 ft crack about 5" deep on ~20° terrain. 

A snowmobile triggered a small persistent slab avalanche in the Taylor Fork on Tuesday. The rider was not caught. Photo: O. El-Zaru

From text message: a snowmobile triggered a small persistent slab avalanche in the Taylor Fork on Tuesday. The rider was not caught. 

On a nearby slope, a larger avalanche failed 150 wide on weak layers near the ground. 

One fresh larger slide (R2/D2) at about 9,400' on a NE facing slope. It appeared to be natural (remote?), failed at the ground and was about 200' wide and ran for 200' the crown was 2-3' deep. Photo: A Newman

There was a natural avalanche on the landslide face above quake lake. The avalanche failed on a weak layers near the ground and broke several hundred feet wide. 

We toured into Carrot Basin and Sage Creek this morning. The storm ended and skies were broken by 1000. The spx is about 1M deep and the surface conditions are soft and excellent in most areas with wind effect along the ridges. At about 130 we moved from carrot to sage creek and notcied three small and one large avalanche along cabin creek divide that were not present earlier in the day. Most looked remote and were isolated pockets (R1/D1). As we rounded the corner into sage there was one fresh larger slide (R2/D2) at about 9,400' on a NE facing slope. It appeared to be natural (remote?), failed at the ground and was about 200' wide and ran for 200' the crown was 2-3' deep.