Graupling with the Conditions

Took advantage of the latest conditions and traveled swiftly up a ridge in the Flathead Range.

• A supportable crust caps the snowpack. 1-2 inches at lower elevations and periodically thins out as we gained elevation.
• Even at our highpoint (~6800'), the crust was present. 0.5cm thick on NE facing slopes.
• Widespread Loose Wet/Roller Ball Cycle (1/11-1/12) observed between 3800'-5800'. Most prevalent on solar aspects, but observed activity on all aspects.
• Skies were Broken/Overcast all day. Mostly no precip, but trace precip at time. Less than 1cm of accumulation.
• Winds were calm all day BTL NTL and light from the SW around 1-2pm on ridgetop
• We dug a pit on a previously loaded NE facing slope at 6700'. We found a deep (272cm) snowpack with good structure. We identified three different layers of preserved grauple in the snowpack. One of which we believe to be the 1/11 storm snow/wind slab interface and our layer of most concern. This layer is 25cm (~10inches) below the surface and composed of 2.0mm-5.0mm grauple grains. Refer to attached Pit Graph for more details.
• Skiing was not great. Pretty bad in fact. Even in sheltered northerlies up high, the thin crust was troublesome.
• Good luck out there!