18-19

<p>In the Bridger Range, Hyalite, and near Cooke City there is 3-4’ of settled snow on the ground equal to 4-6” of <strong><a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/or/snow/?cid=nrcs142p2… water equivalent</a></strong> (SWE). The mountains near Big Sky and West Yellowstone have 2-4’ of snow equal to 2-4” of SWE. Warm and heavy snowfall over the last couple weeks built a relatively dense and right-side-up snowpack. Instabilities during the storms were mostly confined to the upper layers of new and drifted snow (<strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/avalanche-activity">recent avalanche activity</a></strong>), and these should gain strength quickly.</p>

<p>Wind was light to moderate at the end of the storm on Wednesday, and it left plenty of snow for strong wind yesterday to drift into fresh slabs. Yesterday, ice climbers in Hyalite triggered a small slab on their descent (<strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/19019">details</a></strong&gt;, <strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/18/ice-climber-triggered-slab">photo…;). This is a clear sign that fresh drifts are unstable, and a reminder to be extra cautious in steep gullies where even a small slab could take you for a deadly ride. Avoid steep, wind loaded slopes if you see blowing and drifting snow or cracking of fresh drifts.</p>

<p>Skiers in the Bridger Range, Hyalite, Cooke City and Beehive have reported a mostly stable snowpack with the recent large storm snow bonding generally well to the old snow at the ground. This is similar to what Doug and I found earlier this week in the Bridgers (<u><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-pDJgVBPQI&amp;list=PLXu5151nmAvRNl9ku…;, <u><strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/18/bridger-snowpit">photo</a></stron…;). However, a skier in Hyalite and a skier in Cooke City found sugary facets below a hard crust in the bottom foot of their snowpits (<strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/18/facets-below-crust">photo</a&gt;, <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/18/blackmore-snowpack">photo</a></st…;), and the skier&nbsp;in Cooke&nbsp;had unstable stability test results. These observations and the large avalanche that Big Sky triggered earlier this week (<u><strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/18990">details</a></strong></u&gt;) are clues to pay attention to this layer, and dig to see if it exists where you are riding. You can suspect&nbsp;this layer exists on high elevation and shady slopes (facing northerly), but it can’t be ruled out unless you dig to the ground.</p>

<p>We are preparing for winter, scheduling avalanche classes, and setting up weather stations. If you get outside send us an observation via our website, email (<u><a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com">mtavalanche@gmail.com</a></u&gt;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>