Wind slabs today, wet snow tomorrow

Today, Dave and I did the full mechanized boundary tour north of Cooke City. We rode up and over Daisy Pass towards Wolverine Pass and Mount Abundance, up Lulu Pass, to the Goose Lake boundary, and back out through Round Lake.

In thirty miles of riding, we noted one avalanche on the Fin that likely occurred yesterday or early this morning from a wind slab or cornice fall. That being said, low cloud cover obscured views and the light was relatively flat all day. What was visible were strong winds transporting snow, especially at high elevations. We chose to stay out of steep upper elevation bowls that are regularly wind loaded and out from under corniced ridgelines. 

As we rode, we dug a few snowpits looking for the weak layer that we found yesterday buried about 2 feet deep. While we were able to find this layer, we only got propagation in one of three tests (ECTP 26, E aspect, 9070'). 

Throughout the day, the snow surface became denser and denser. The little precipitation that fell was noticeably rimed and when we rode back into Cooke City around 1pm it was nearly 40 degrees in town. Driving out of Cooke and into the Lamar Valley, we saw a good number of wet loose avalanches breaking in steep, cliffy terrain just south of the road. 

Looking ahead, we are preparing for a sudden shift in the weather with above-freezing temperatures into the alpine and direct sunshine. We are keeping an eye on wind slab avalanches at upper elevations, but will start to shift our focus towards the potential for wet snow avalanche problems in the coming days.