This slide was skier triggered on Saturday, November 23. It occurred on a N facing slope and broke on a layer of facets about 8 inches above the ground.
This recent avalanche occurred on a NE aspect of Crown Butte. Photo: B. Fredlund
This slide an one other occurred on a NE aspect of Mt Henderson above the Fisher Creek near Cooke City. Notice the ski pole to gauge depth of the avalanche. These slides broke over 3 feet deep on weak facets near the ground. One slide was 300 feet wide and the other was about 100 feet wide. At least one was human triggered. Photo: B. Fredlund
The strongest snow exists in the Bridger Range and mountains near Cooke City (photo). These areas generally do not have well developed faceted layers. Avalanche activity should be confined to the new snow layers.
The snowpack in Beehive Basin north of Big Sky is generally 2-3 feet deep. An obvious layer of facets can be found in most places in the lower half of the snowpack. The latest snowfall, 3 days ago, does not seem to have stressed this layer enough to create unstable conditions. Finding this layer and doing a stability test or two only takes a few minutes. Photo: C. Diaz
The snowpack is 4.5 feet deep in this photo and mostly stable. The weakest layer in the photo is labeled at 102 cm (3.3 ft), but should gain strength quickly. Photo: B. Fredlund
It has been a good start to the season. Much of our forecast area already has 2-3 feet of snow on the ground. The mountains around Cooke City are topping the charts at 40 inches. While snow depths are fairly consistent across our forecast area, the snowpack structure varies from one area to the next.
