Ski it another day

Location Name: 
Central Glacier Park
Observation date: 
Thursday, January 27, 2022 - 13:45
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
Yes
Observation made by: Public

Location

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Quick Observation
  • Ski tour in the southern Livingston Range.
  • Decent amount of old avalanche activity including one D3 off the NW face of Stanton that ran full path to the valley bottom near Trout Lake, Estimating this also ran a couple weeks ago during the warm up. We couldn’t see a crown, but skied across the debris terminus (photo).
  • Saw a D2 wind slab that likely ran in the last 48 hours on a NW aspect on a cross-loaded sub-ridge between Heavens and McPartland Mtn.
  • Another, older D2 slab that ran on the west face of Heavens. Crown mostly filled back in.
  • We could see a deep crown on the lower East face of Vaught, also looked old (photo).
  • Other D2-size debris piles noted in at least half dozen other paths above Trout Lake on Stanton, Vaught, and Rogers Mtns.
  • Dug a snow pit at 8200’ on a SW aspect and found a terrible snowpack structure and poor stability. HS=135 cm with a facet/crust sandwich buried about 30 cm down. Facets were very well-developed and large (3-5 mm) and would fall out of the pit wall. ECT failed/propagated on isolation (pit profile). After these findings we bailed on our original objective to ski a large alpine face and stuck to the nearby ridge.
  • Weather was beautiful with valley fog for most of the day between 5000-6500’, which burned off around 1600 hrs. Winds were calm to light from the SW except for on the summit where they were mod with strong gusts.
  • Surface hoar noted on top of the snowpack on shady aspects, mostly below 7000' elevation.
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Glacier National Park - McDonald Lake Area
Activity: 
Skiing
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 12:15
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Hard Slab
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
Old snow
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Debris about 150-200 feet wide and 20+ feet deep in places.

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
Northwest
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D3 - Could destroy a car, a wood house, or snap trees
Relative Size: 
unknown
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
2500ft.
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - 13:00
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Soft Slab
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
New/old snow interface
Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
North
Starting Elevation: 
above-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.
Relative Size: 
R3 Medium
Crown Height: 
1 ft
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
2000ft.
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
500ft.
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 12:00
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Soft Slab
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
New/old snow interface
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Crown mostly filled back in. Perhaps ran late last week?

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
Southwest
Starting Elevation: 
above-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.
Relative Size: 
R2 Small
Crown Height: 
1 ft
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
1500ft.
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
100ft.
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 12:15
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Hard Slab
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
Old snow
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Looked to be an older crown and deeper. Thinking possibly a hard slab that failed during the warm-up a couple weeks ago. Could not view the runout. Crown dimensions very rough estimates.

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
East
Starting Elevation: 
above-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2.5
Relative Size: 
R2 Small
Crown Height: 
4 ft
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
200ft.
Avalanche Location: