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Tour up Grizzly Gulch
Location Name:
BNSF Avalanche Safety-Running Rabbit Mtn, Glacier Park
Observation date:
Friday, January 18, 2019 - 23:45
Is this an Avalanche Observation:
No
Observation made by:
Public
Location
Tabs
Quick Observation
Toured up the Grizzly Gulch between Running Rabbit and Snowslip Mountains to about 7000 feet on the east face of Running Rabbit.
Objective was to assess Jan 17/18 storm snowfall totals and see how this new snow was bonding to the pre-storm surface. Also continue to keep tabs on the weak snow at the bottom of the snowpack.
Descended via the same route taken up.
We were sheltered from the wind down in the gulch and winds were mostly calm there. We could see and hear the west winds above us. Visibility was limited but we could occasionally see the wind-loading onto easterly aspects near exposed ridgelines.
Air temperatures in the low to mid-20s °F above 6000 feet under mostly cloudy skies with occasional snow flurries.
Snowed another 1-2 inches during the tour.
Jan 17/18 storm totals were pretty under-whelming in the Program Area, 3-4 inches total at the Canyon floor and 6-8 inches above 6000 feet elevation.
The new storm snow was low density and had not yet formed a cohesive slab in the sheltered terrain we travelled through. But fresh wind slabs were forming above us in locations more exposed to wind.
An approximately one inch thick melt-freeze crust from last week’s warm-up and subsequent sunny/warm weather at upper elevations was present everywhere we travelled underneath the new snow.
We dug a snowpit and conducted a snow profile on an east aspect at ~6800 feet elevation in the basin just below the upper east face of Running Rabbit (pit profile below). Total snow depth here was 87 inches.
Underneath the Jan 17 crust we found a thin layer of well-developed facets which propagated with moderate force during an Extended Column Test. No buried surface hoar at this location.
The early December facets were present at the bottom of the snowpack. These are rounding and we did not get any fractures on this layer during a Deep Tap Test (DTN).
No avalanches observed today.
No evidence of any large avalanches that have run to the bottom of the gulch earlier this year.
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images:
Travel Details
Region:
Flathead Range/Glacier National Park - John F. Stevens Canyon
Activity:
Skiing
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details:
Date and Time of Avalanche:
Friday, January 18, 2019 - 23:45
