Cooke City

SE facing profile Cabin Creek

SE facing snow Cabin Creek

N facing profile Cabin Creek

N facing snow Cabin Creek, 9000 ft

We rode into Cabin Creek very delicately, and it was great to be riding in late November. Hitting rocks is the greatest threat. 

Overall conditions are thin but great to see so much snow.

9000 ft, N facing - 87 cm (~35 inches)

9100 ft, SE facing - 49 cm (~20 inches)

8100 ft, E facing - 35 cm (~13 inches)

Some faceting is occurring in the snowpack (aka - weakening), but the current state of the snowpack isn't the main issue. It's hard to appreciate how cold things are in the mountains and how cold the snow will get under clear skies. Clear nights in December will significantly weaken the snowpack, and it will look A LOT different the next time we come back. 

What we need? - Snow. We don't need a lot but a few inches every few days along with cloudy skies will help things a TON.

Where can you trigger an avalanche right now?  - I think you need to find a slope with recent wind drifts where you can either get a wind slab or persistent slab avalanche. 

Lastly - the radiation recrystallization process is happening as well. On an East-facing slope at 8100 ft at around noon, the surface of the snow was dry but snow just under the surface was damp. 

Big Sky Ski Patrol triggered this avalanche during mitigation work in The Wave on 11/26/24... "2-3' deep on an ice crust just above the ground with a 2# shot in the Upper rodeo. Volume was limited as most of the snow was loaded just underneath the cornice, but still produced a sizeable size 2... Other paths in the Lenin region ran meaty wind slabs, full track with no significant step downs." Photo: BSSP

I broke trail a bit further than the previous skiier up Republic Creek yesterday. Turnaround spot had 10-12” new snow. Total snowpack was approximately 28”. Real nice touring conditions. I found the sun crust that I mentioned last week. About 8-10” up from dirt. Didn’t find it on any shaded aspects but I had collapsing without any whumphs. Wind was SW up top and moving snow. Great day!

Snowpit from near Lulu Pass attached.  Localized collapsing on E, NE aspects between 9300- 9900', and no avalanche activity to report.

Cracking on old, faceted, October snow hundreds of feet long. North facing near treeline. Photo: BSSP