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Two hunters triggered and were caught in a slide in Sacajewea Bowl yesterday (Thur, Nov 5). One was knocked out briefly, but both ended up remarkably okay. The black line was their trajectory: they were swept 400' vertical in a slide that broke 20 feet above them and was 40-50 feet wide. Photo: Anonymous

This is the general picture we saw from Beehive Basin at approx 9500 ft yesterday. Great skiing on NE aspect above 9000 ft but extremely sketchy on the down ski back to the parking lot on the south side and at lower elevation

Photo: C. Bilbrey

The mountains in our area have 18 to 26 inches of snow on the ground. This last storm delivered 12 to 18 inches of dense snow with moderate winds. Avalanches are possible where there is enough snow to ski, and where the wind has loaded slopes and created deeper slabs of snow. Deeper areas will be more appealing for skiing and riding, but will also have a higher potential to avalanche. Wind direction varied through the storm, so look for these wind slabs near ridgetops and in gullies on all aspects.

From Erika Birkeland:

Went up to Sac Bowl this morning (Oct 31). Got to the parking lot at about 9:15, and the temperature was 35 degrees. There was 3-4 inches of moist new snow in the parking lot. Hiked up to the bowl, very windy out of the west with light snow and sleet/rain. Found a spot with deep snowpack, east aspect, and dug a pit. Hs=95 cm. ECTN12 10cm down. No other fractures. Dry snow on the ground but the whole snowpack was dense, 1 finger plus and stronger.

Looking up Sacajewea Bowl this morning. Wind loading was creating 8" deep windslabs which easily broke on a NE facing gully. Photo: K. Birkeland

While it has been snowing periodically for the past few weeks, there still isn’t enough snow to get real excited about breaking out the boards. For a few die hards, there may be enough snow on some high-wind drifted chute to make a turn or two, but I wouldn’t count on it.

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EVERYONE who digs snowpits and performs stability tests says it influences their decision making.  Very similar results came from the group that had not taken the class except a larger percent reported not digging.