Stahl-ed out

A day riding and skiing in the northern Whitefish Range revealed a strong base to the snow pack, along with several weak but unreactive layers near the surface.

Sluffs of loose snow in very steep terrain with poor run outs currently pose the primary avalanche hazard.

• The 6 to 10 inches of storm snow from December 9 and 11 has settled into 4 to 8 inches of loose snow. On most southerly slopes, this recent snow has already faceted. On northerly slopes, the grains retain much of their original form.
• On southerly slopes, a melt-freeze crust exists 2-20 cm below the surface. This crust formed when the 11/8 custard (moist snow due to radiation and temps) refroze. 
• On all aspects, a thin but very hard ice layer is buried 15-30 cm below today's snow surface. We found it as high as 7250 feet and expect it extends to the summits in this area.There is softer, slightly-faceted snow below this ice layer. While this is a potentially unstable structure, it is mostly unreactive in tests at present.
• Below the thin ice crust, the snow pack generally consist of well-sintered snow with few softer, weaker interfaces. A very hard ice layer sits at the ground. Snow pack tests produced no results at the top of the basal ice layer.
• We found a few signs of drifted or wind affected snow.  Ski cuts at the top of a leeward chute with soft, wind-thickened snow did not produce any cracking or signs of instability.
• With a ski cut, we were able to trigger one small slough of loose snow on a 38°, upper-elevation, northwest facing slope. This was the only sign of instability we saw all day.

With few signs of danger, we skied a steep, northerly, upper-elevation with a good runout. On sheltered, mid-elevation slopes, the snow was supportable and consistent, allowing for fast turns through the trees.