Professional Observation - Wolverine Creek, Whitefish Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Wolverine Creek, Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Northern (north of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 02/11/2017 - 13:45
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent avalanche activity
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Touring up towards point 7623' along the Poorman Mountain ridgeline we experienced a large collapse just as we were about to dig a pit.  

Pit: 7600' - E Aspect - 30° slope - HS (height of total snowpack) = 175

-CT2@164 RP (soft wind slab above storm snow)

-CT4@110 SC (on buried, well developed facets)

-ECTP10@110 SC

-PST27/100 END

Our pit results were indicative of the CONSIDERABLE avlanche danger above 6000' and the recent wind loading of the new storm snow.  Our layer of concern was the new snow/old snow interface @110cm where there were well developed F+ hardness facets underlying a 4F+ hardness slab of new storm and wind loaded snow.

Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

February 11th, 2017 - Collapsing in Ten Lakes

Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Throughout our tour we witnessed evidence of last week's natural avalanche cycle from mid-storm with mulitple day old cliff-base crowns evident on NE, E, SE, and S aspects. Later in our tour, we remotely triggered an avalanche on Green Mountain (avalanche obs) on the same weak layer from ~100 yards away while ascending the ridgeline.  Tourchy conditions out in the (almost Canadian) Northern Whitefish range!

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate (Small trees sway)
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None
Activity: 
Skiing