Still weak in Island Park

Still weak in Island Park

Date
Activity
Skiing
Snowmobiling

We snowmobiled up to 9,000' on Sawtelle peak, then skied to dig a couple pits. Our first pit was on an East aspect on a heavily wind loaded slope. The HS was 130cm (or 4.2 feet). There was 8" of new snow equal to 0.85" SWE, sitting over old consolidated snow that made up a slab over soft, weak facets about 50cm off the ground. We had ECTP24 x2 break on the old weak snow. Our second put was on a SW aspect and had an HS of 90cm (almost 3 feet). We got an ECTP19 here breaking on the same layer of very soft, weak facets. Wind was moderate out of the west-northwest with temps in the teens F. The new snow combined with the poor snow structure will increase avalanche danger this weekend. Video attached. 

Region
Island Park
Location (from list)
Sawtelle Peak
Observer Name
Alex Marienthal