Observations from Swan Range

Location Name: 
NE Aspect above Wildcat Lake
Region: 
Swan Range - West Side (Flathead Valley access)
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 12/02/2017 - 02:00
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

After skiing the obvious avalanche path above WIldcat Lake, from near the summit of Spider Bowl and not seeing any signs of instablilty (3 skiers skied the slope) we chose to boot pack directly up the line of descent. At 6700 feet on a 38 degree NE aspect we dug our pit. Total snow depth was 110 cm deep. Our results in pit were ECTP27 30 cm down. It broke on the weak snow below the Thanksgiving day crust. 

We toured to Strawbeery lake and headed South through North facing terrain towards Spider Bowl. We didn't see or feel any signs of wind slabs, no signs of recent avalanches.  We skied the tube in Spider Bowl to a wicked alder schwak back to the trail.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
Activity: 
Skiing
Precip Rate: 
S -1; very light snowfall, trace to 0.5cm/hour
High Temp. (C): 
40
Low Temp. (C): 
20