Thickening slab in the Whitefish Range

Today we rode into the southern Whitefish Range with a group of students for a motorized avalanche class. We dug pits, practiced multi-burial beacon scenarios, talked about decision making and human factors, and received instant feedback on test slopes.

• Consistent snowfall throughout the day. There was roughly 6 inches of snow on the trailer when we returned.
• Four snowpits were dug at about ~5800' on NE and SE aspect. Some pits had propagation on surface hoar when neighboring pits did not.
• We triggered two small avalanches on test slopes next to the pit location. These were 1 to 2 feet deep. See photos.

We stayed far away from larger slopes given recent activity, loading, and signs we received throughout the day.