Ulrr doesn't want to go into hibernation...

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - Grant Ridge, Flathead Range
Observation date: 
Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 16:30
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
No
Observation made by: Forecaster

Tabs

Quick Observation

Toured into the middle portion of Flathead Range to evaluate a buried crust/ facet combo and look for newly formed storm slabs.

  • Wet and soggy conditions at trailhead upon arrival, but snowing versus raining at 1345
    • Saturated and rotten surface snow below 4000', freezing level = 4000'
  • S1 snowfall on and off throughout the day
  • Trace of new snow at 4400'
  • 10 cm of new snow at 5400'
  • 13 cm of new snow at 5800' above a newly formed rain crust (3 cm) buried by today's snowfall
    • Probably formed during Tuesday's (4/10) rain event
  • Over 25 cm of new snow at 7000' but no signs of storm slab formation today is this area​
    • Above 6000', 3 cm of dense snow that probably fell Tuesday night is sitting above a melt-freeze crust formed during the day Tuesday
  • No surface cracking, collapses, or recent slab avalanche activity observed
  • Numerous rollerballs and pinwheels from previous days warm-up on both sunny and shady aspects at mid/ upper elevations
  • Calm winds with a few light gusts
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor
Route Description: 

Grant Ridge up to 7000'.

Activity: 
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Aspect(s) of observation: 
N
NE
SE
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Not observed
New Snow in the past 24 hours: 
8.00in.
Total Snow Depth: 
350 cm
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
Stout melt-freeze or rain crust found on all aspects above 5800' up to 7000' below the new snow. Below 6000', new snow was easily sluffing on rain crust in steeper terrain but moving slow and not entraining a lot of snow. Above 6000', 3 cm of dense snow is sitting above newly formed crust and seemed to prevent new snow from sluffing while skiing in steeper terrain. No signs of instability observed today and crust/ facet combo in this area was unreactive in stability test (ECTX). We found upwards of 25 cm of new snow above 7000' that hadn't shown signs of slab formation by this afternoon, but continuous snowfall was observed on the ski out. All ECTs and deep tap test produced non-propagating or unremarkable results respectively.
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 21:45