Right-side-up in Lost Johnny

Location Name: 
Lost Johnny
Observation date: 
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 - 19:30
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
Yes
Observation made by: Professional Observer

Tabs

Quick Observation

Today we rode into the Lost Johnny drainage.  

  • We found a right side up snowpack above the Holiday Crust.  Depth to the Holiday crust was approx. 5-6 feet at 6200 feet.
  • On any slope steeper than 30 degrees we were seeing cracking around our skis, failing at the interface between yesterdays slightly denser snow and last night/today's cold and light snow(approx 6-8 inches)
  • We opted to stay away from steep terrain above any gully, cliff or thick trees.  Terrain such as this was sloughing at all elevations and all aspects.  We saw sloughs that ran several hundred feet and entrained quite a bit of snow.  
  • We looked for areas that had been wind affected, however, the winds seem to have been pretty tame in our location.  
  • Coverage is improving with the brush being buried even in the lower elevations.
  • Snowfall rates for most of the day were close to 1 inch/hour.
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Swan Range - East Side (Hungry Horse Reservoir access)
Route Description: 

We rode the Lost Johnny road to the end and then skinned to the high point above there.

Activity: 
Snowboarding
Snowmobiling
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
3500-5000 ft
5000-6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Red Flags: 
Shooting cracks
More than a foot of new snow or heavy snowfall rates (>1"/hr)
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Facets or Faceted Crust
Buried
New Snow in the past 24 hours: 
8.00in.
Total Snow Depth: 
280
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
Cold!
Blowing Snow: 
None
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Highest Precipitation Rate: 
Heavy Snowfall (S5)
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 - 12:00
Number of avalanches: 
25
Avalanche Type: 
Loose Dry/ Sluff
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
Within storm snow
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Very minor sloughing, however, if on larger terrain it would have been an issue.

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Trigger Modifier: 
Intentionally Triggered
Hide Terrain
Start Zone Slope Angle: 
30
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D1 Relatively harmless to people.
Relative Size: 
R1 Very Small
Crown Height: 
Less than 1 ft
Avalanche Length (Vertical Run): 
50ft.
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
20ft.
Avalanche Location: