Cooke City

We were ski touring on the SW side of Mt. Henderson today, and noticed a large (natural?) avalanche on the NE aspect of Henderson.  First observed at around 1:15pm.  It appeared to be very fresh, possibly from a remote trigger this morning.  

2 photos attached.   A NE aspect, around 10,000'.

It looked to be 4-6' deep and about 500' wide.  And it failed on snow at/ near the ground.

Photo: B Fredlund 

Cooke City, 2024-12-30

We were ski touring on the SW side of Mt. Henderson today, and noticed a large (natural?) avalanche on the NE aspect of Henderson.  First observed at around 1:15pm.  It appeared to be very fresh, possibly from a remote trigger this morning.  

2 photos attached.   A NE aspect, around 10,000'.

It looked to be 4-6' deep and about 500' wide.  And it failed on snow at/ near the ground.

Photo: B Fredlund

Cooke City, 2024-12-30

large natural avalanche, NE Mt. Henderson

Date
Activity
Skiing

We were ski touring on the SW side of Mt. Henderson today, and noticed a large (natural?) avalanche on the NE aspect of Henderson.  First observed at around 1:15pm.  It appeared to be very fresh, possibly from a remote trigger this morning.  

2 photos attached.   A NE aspect, around 10,000'.

It looked to be 4-6' deep and about 500' wide.  And it failed on snow at/ near the ground.

Weather:  today alternated between heavy snowfall, and patches of sunshine.  Temps in the low/ mid 20's F, and calm winds.  A very nice day for ski touring.

No other avalanche activity observed in Miller Creek.

We experienced a couple of large collapses on westerly aspects/ in wind affected terrain around 10,000'.

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Henderson Mountain
Observer Name
Beau Fredlund

Sheep Creek

Sheep Creek
Cooke City
Code
SS-R1-D1
Aspect
N
Latitude
45.03440
Longitude
-109.98400
Notes

From email: "Skied ghost trees in Sheep Creek today. Still a little lean, but mostly good to go for taking clients. Surprised to only see one D1R1 soft Slab on steep north facing slope. No other avalanche activity seen on Miller Mountain, Mineral, Sunset and Republic Mountain. No cr/co." 

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
R size
1
D size
1
Problem Type
Storm Slab
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

Sheep Creek

Date
Activity
Skiing

From email: "Skied in Sheep Creek today. Still a little lean. Surprised to only see one D1R1 soft Slab on steep north facing slope. No other avalanche activity seen on Miller Mountain, Mineral, Sunset and Republic Mountain. No cr/co." 

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Sheep Creek
Observer Name
Ben Zavora

collapses near Cooke

Round Lake
Cooke City
Code
Latitude
45.07450
Longitude
-109.90700
Notes

Been at the yurt the last couple days. About 2 feet of new snow since Friday, 10 inches of that were today. 

Couple collapses... Most aspects. No avalanches observed but visibility has been very low 

Number of slides
0
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Red Flag
Advisory Year

Heavy New snowfall

Date
Activity
Snowboarding

Teaching a Level 1 up at Woody Creek Cabin the past couple of days. 2-2.5' has fallen since Friday, but 11" of that snow came throughout today. 

We toured up the East Side of Woody Ridge today. There was heavy snow throughout the day, steady winds (light-moderate) above the tree line all day, and low visibility. No cracking/collapsing, and no observed avalanches in the visible terrain. The skin track was completely refilled on the tour back to the cabin (within ~2 hours). 

We dug below Rip Curl: NE facing aspect @ 8620'.  Average HS 95-105cm. CT8 on the buried surface hoar about 2' down. ECT results: no propagation. The new snow that fell today was F-hard and unconsolidated. 

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Woody Ridge
Observer Name
Beartooth Powder Guides

New snow and collapses

Date
Activity
Skiing

About 2 feet of new snow since Friday, 10 inches of that were today. 

Couple collapses... Most aspects. No avalanches observed but visibility has been very low 

We dug snowpits on Saturday. SW facing, 9700 ft. Average HS 120. Several ECTNs 30 down. No propagation. Snow above the 12/21 sun crust is F hard

Also dug a pit today.... NW facing, 9200 ft. HS 125. ECTN12 35 down x2. There is also a thin crust 45 cm down in this pit. 4f snow above. 

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Round Lake
Observer Name
Beartooth Powder Guides