Southern Madison

Surprisingly shallow snow pack on the upper parts of Bacon Rind.  South of Skillet area in the meadows.  2-3 foot depth max at 8800 on a SE aspect.  10+ inches of newer snow on top of a well developed surface hoar.  A semi-supportable crust below that with facets to the bottom.  ECTP 11 really surprised us, failing on the surface hoar.  Challenging skiing staying on top and did some base damage on rocks even up high.  Log jam roller coaster back down to the car. Still a fun outing.  Send us snow!  And keep up the good work!

From IG Messages: “I was hunting up papoose creek today and heard loud whumping noises 4-5 times in the morning…. Was That the snowpack above me settling?”

Plumes of drifting snow in the Bridger Range as strong winds blasted the mountains. Photo: GNFAC

Skied Bacon Rind meadows today. Didn't look at the Skillet.

S1-S2 all day, L-M winds from the south

HS of 45cm at the road and 65cm at the ridgeline. It is more or less entirely faceted and unsupportable. Ski pen of 40cm and boot pen to the ground.

Skiing was good but hazardous. Lots of audible rock strikes, and getting through the trees back to the road was challenging.

Not recommended yet.

From IG: On 12/15 "Storm slab broke about 200’ above us as skinning up the hallway coming from the north side on the throne." Photo: Anonymous

Hey Guys,

Brent and I got the public Avalanche Beacon Park installed today. It's located in the Old Airport area just off the Two Top trail, here in West Yellowstone. The 8 beacons are all buried. We could use some more snow to help cover them a little more, hopefully the next few days will provide that and we'll be off and rolling. 

Thanks guys,

Jim Norlander