Whoomphing wonderland today in the Whitefish Range just north of Werner Peak. While breaking trail off of the Werner Peak Road, our party experienced countless collapses of the snowpack just below the Dec. 17th rain crust. The bulk of these collapses occurred from 4000' up to an elevation of ~6000'. Above that it seemed that the recent North-Easterly winds had deposited more new snow above the weak layer in question and we found "supportable" wind slabs in pockets nearer to the ridgeline.
We felt safe traveling through this terrain with the touchy snowpack because our entire tour plan for the day kept us off of slopes exceeding 30 degrees. Even though we experienced numerous collapses (whoomphs) and saw localized shooting cracks as we skinned, we never witnessed any avalanches.
