Four Good Turns

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - Flathead Range
Observation date: 
Thursday, December 9, 2021 - 18:30
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
No
Observation made by: Forecaster

Tabs

Quick Observation

We fought our way to almost 7,000 feet in the Flathead Range as a public service because somebody has to give a bush update.

Below 5,000 feet:

  • We crawled, comically, over and under downed trees and dodged alder on the summer trail - but all on skis.
  • We found about 8 inches of snow on the ground. Below 5,000 feet the ground had been bare before the storm on December 4th. That soft dry snow was capped with a thin, breakable, granular crust from the warm precipitation on the 8th. This was not the hard rain ice crust found in the Swan Range. This crust faded away to almost imperceptible with elevation. An inch of new snow and graupel from last night and another inch or so from today say atop that sneaky crust.

Between 5,000 and 6,500 feet:

  • In true Middle Fork style, we 'schwhacked through dense alders as we tried to access open terrain above.
  • We found between a foot and 2 and a half feet of cold winter snow. At 5,000 feet a new crust appeared near the bottom of the snowpack. This crust was left over from the warm wet period that ended (sort of) on 12/3. Above and below that crust we found weak sugary layers that were reactive in our snowpit tests. The 12/8 crust near the surface faded to almost nothing. The snowpack in general seemed weak. It didn't give us much feedback beyond some isolated cracking and our test results because there's only soft snow over the weak layers - no cohesive slab. Yet.

Above 6,500 feet:

  • FInally we swapped bushwhacking for simple, barely buried stumps and rocks.
  • We saw less wind and blowing snow than we expected, though we did see enough drifting to convince us that in truly exposed, alpine terrain higher up we could definitely find some wind slabs to tangle with. 
  • We found about 2.5 to 3+ feet of snow with a similar structure to what we'd seen just a few hundred feet lower. We got sudden results in our compression tests on the same layers.
  • We got about 4 good, bush-free turns in above 6,500 feet. As we crossed some steeper slopes the incohesive snow began to sluff from our turns, but didn't run far or entrain much snow.

Skiing the rest of the way down was....sporty. We walked down when we hit about 4,500 feet.

video coming.

Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Videos: 

12/9/21 Bushwhacking To A Weak Snowpack

Travel Details
Region: 
Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor
Activity: 
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
3500-5000 ft
5000-6500 ft
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
N
NE
E
SE
S
Red Flags: 
Blowing snow
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Facets or Faceted Crust
Buried
New Snow in the past 24 hours: 
3.00in.
Total Snow Depth: 
90 cm
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
Snowfall all day between S-1 and S1 with brief periods of S2. Occasional moderate gusts and blowing snow across the lake and on ridges. A brief period with hints of sun and blue sky, through mostly overcast.
Blowing Snow: 
Light
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Wind Direction: 
West
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Snow line: 
valley floor
Sky Cover: 
Overcast (OVC)
Highest Precipitation Rate: 
Moderate Snowfall (S2)