BNSF Avalanche Safety Field Observations

Location Name: 
Snowslip Mountain/Shed 9 to Shed 5 traverse
Observation date: 
Thursday, February 15, 2018 - 19:00

Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
No
Observation made by: Public

Location

Tabs

Quick Observation
  • Toured up the south face of Snowslip Mountain via the Shed 9 Path and over the ridge at 7000 feet elevation to the Shed 7 weather station. After some maintenance work on the station we descended the Shed 5 path back to the rail grade.
  • Scattered clouds in the AM, then mostly cloudy by the afternoon with very light snowfall and light westerly winds. Air temperatures 10-15°F above 6000 feet elevation and low-20s °F at the Canyon floor. 
  • Since Tuesday the 13th, the Canyon floor picked up another 7 cm of snow and elevations above 6000 feet accumulated another 15-25 cm.
  • Recent wind slabs were slowly building, mostly on westerly aspects. These were small and thin wind (10-30 cm thick).
  • Test slopes produced some minor cracking and occasionally we could get a little tabletop-sized wind slab to release.
  • Large cornices are present in the Infinity, Shed 9, and Shed 7 W avalanche paths (photo 1).
  • Feb 8 crust was mostly supportable throughout the tour.
  • Dug a snowpit to the ground at 6600 feet in the Shed 9 path on south aspect, 35° slope, HS=270 cm.
    • Multiple ECTNs in the upper 70 cm of the snowpack but no propagating fractures.
    • The December facets were present at the base of the snowpack, see pit profile (photo 2).
  • No avalanche activity observed.
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Glacier National Park - Southern Lewis Range
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Thursday, February 15, 2018 - 19:00