Hey, Moran, Cool Ridge!

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - East side Whitefish Range
Observation date: 
Saturday, April 3, 2021 - 21:00
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
Yes
Observation made by: Forecaster

Tabs

Quick Observation

Creek to peak on snowmobile and sled, to see how the surface snowpack has fared with this week's warming. Travel mostly in the E-S quadrant with some NE. 

  • Low elevations: Brief freeze overnight left a melt-freeze crust that was mostly supportable on a snowmobile mid-morning. By mid afternoon, this snow was wet to the ground. Most steep southerly slopes are snow free. 
  • Mid-elevations: From 5-6000 ft, snowpack mostly isothermal - few layers, supportable Melt-Freeze grains at the surface in the AM, wet below. By mid-afternoon, mostly supportable on skis, but ski-grabbing mush on snowmobile.
  • Upper-elevation: starts about 6000'. On sunny slopes, 4-6" MF grains, supportable even when not frozen, but slow skiing. On shady slopes, cold snow getting wet. Very sticky. 
  • Turns on slopes above 6000 ft released neavy rollerballs that might have coalseced into wet slides on more continuously steep slopes.
  • In the drainage where we traveled, we saw one small natural loose snow avalanche from the past few days. 
  • On nearby peaks, we could make out several larger wet loose slides on SE-facing slopes below the rocky summit of Red Benchmark.

 

Travel Details
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Northern (north of Coal Creek)
Route Description: 

Skied 5200-7400'

Activity: 
Skiing
Snowmobiling
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
3500-5000 ft
5000-6500 ft
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
NE
E
SE
S
Red Flags: 
Rollerballs / pinwheels
New Snow in the past 24 hours: 
0.00in.
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
Above ~6000', shaded slopes: cold snow (DF) getting wet and sticky. At ~7300' on E facing slope, 3-4" of wet, sticky snow above moist snow. Same elevations, sunny slopes SE-E: surface snow MF that was draining better. Below 6000', snowpack on sunny slopes mostly isothermal, mostly supportable. DIdn't get on shady slopes <6000'.
Blowing Snow: 
None
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Sky Cover: 
Partly Cloudy (SCT)
Highest Precipitation Rate: 
No Precipitation (NO)
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Friday, April 2, 2021 - 12:45
Number of avalanches: 
5
Avalanche Type: 
Wet Loose
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
Old snow
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

SE side of Red Benchmark, below rocky summit, which likely provided triggers. Seen from Moran Peak.

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Start Zone Slope Angle: 
38
Aspect: 
Southeast
Starting Elevation: 
7400
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D1.5
Relative Size: 
R2 Small
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
200ft.
Hide People Involved
Number of people caught: 
0
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Friday, April 2, 2021 - 12:45
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Wet Loose
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
New/old snow interface
More information or comments about the avalanche: 
Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
North
Starting Elevation: 
above-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D1.5
Relative Size: 
R2 Small
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
125ft.
Avalanche Location: