Lots of wind slabs south of Cooke today. Strong wind all day and lots of blowing snow.
Plumes of drifting snow in the Bridger Range as strong winds blasted the mountains. Photo: GNFAC
The clouds broke briefly around noon on Tuesday in Cooke City. Two sections of the face on the Fin slid, one from the top, and one lower and to the right. Photo: N. Mattes
The clouds broke briefly around noon today in Cooke City. It looks like the Fin slide naturally in the past day or so (12/15 or 12/16). It looks like two sections of the face slid, one from the top, and one lower and to the right in the photo.
As we entered non wind-effected, upper-elevation terrain on Henderson, we consistently triggered many localized collapses and heard audible whumpfs.
Winds drifted snow below cornices and into gullies on Miller Ridge north of Cooke City. Photo: GNFAC
Winds drifted snow below cornices and along ridgelines on Henderson Mountain in Cooke City. Photo: GNFAC
The clouds broke briefly around noon today in Cooke City. It looks like the Fin slide naturally in the past day or so. It looks like two sections of the face slid, one from the top, and one lower and to the right in the photo.
From email: "Steve Harvey and I did a quick pit yesterday (12/16/2024) S. of Cooke in Republic Creek. E. aspect; 9.085'; 30° slope; HS 80 c; 12:30PM, Calm/cool (teens), Lt snow.
ECTN21; ECTP24 at 50 cm on buried facets. We declined to continue on slope.
We didn't perform a detailed profile, but generally, fist (new snow) and 4-finger above buried facets and progressively 2-finger to 1-finger below.
Noticeable Issues:
(1) Low and variable snowpack, 30cm or less under/near trees and on wind-scoured aspects and loading in fetch zones. Something to keep in mind as season progresses with potential sweet spots in predictable places.
(2) Buried 50 cm facets/hoar that is essentially everywhere in Cooke City zone.
(3) We did not observe buried deep facets at the base of the snowpack."
