On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
On 3/12/22 near Cooke City we saw many natural and snowmobiler triggered avalanches that broke 6-10" deep. Snow over the past week fell on a hard melt-freeze crust. Last night, 4" of new snow with moderate wind created unstable wind slabs that broke wide on the buried crust. Photo: GNFAC
A group of four of us were hoping to ski the banana couloir on Ross Peak today, knowing wind loading would likely be an issue. We approached from the east (?) ridge, and gained enough elevation to cross the face towards the entrance of the line. Upon exiting the protected ridge towards the face (about ~100 ft from the entrance to the banana) we experienced shooting cracks on the heavily cross loaded slope. The wind was blowing heavily and swirling, coming predominately out of the Southwest, which was odd. We decided to turn around and enjoy some highly variable meadow skipping back to the car.
Thanks for all that you guys do!
I quickly ran up the skillet this morning on my way to Jackson. I noticed snow starting to be transported, but no reactive wind slabs yet. Solar aspects had a few inches of new snow on top of a very firm crust layer. On shadier aspects, the snow was very much faceted below the surface and I was sinking almost knee deep. No obvious signs of instability, hope this helps!
