Climbers in the Dribbles area of Hyalite Canyon collapsed a slab of wind-drifted snow resulting in a spider web of shooting cracks. Photo: Sam
From FB message: "Hi! I’d like to report 2 natural slides that were witnessed in the Flanders fork of Hyalite on Friday 11/24 on the east facing aspect of the canyon. Both avalanches came from a single snow field above “Bobo Like” ice climb. These slides happened at approximately 7:45am and 8:15am"
Climbers in the Dribbles area of Hyalite Canyon collapsed a slab of wind-drifted snow resulting in a spider web of shooting cracks. Photo: Sam
Climbers in the Dribbles area of Hyalite Canyon collapsed a slab of wind-drifted snow resulting in a spider web of shooting cracks. Photo: Sam
At 9,000 feet there was about an inch of new snow. It was calm at first light, but by mid morning winds were gusty and blowing straight down the gullies. It stripped what little snow there was and did not create an avalanche hazard. However, the 6+" in the gullies are all faceted, and with even a thin wind-load it was easy to get cracking. With snowfall predicted for the next 48 hours and again later this week, we'll need to be on the lookout for pockets or gullies of wind blown snow.
We climbed to the Upper Mummy's (west facing) and found relatively little snow at 9,000'. Gullies that usually fill in from wind-loading were not showing much depth. HS was less than 6 inches on the hike up (see pic). Across the valley looking at Elephant and Palace Butte, the bowls were snow covered, but barely (pic). Lower elevation, east facing slopes were mostly mostly dirt.
The avalanche danger is non-existent on most slopes. The exception would be high elevation gullies that happened to get wind drifts, but these are not widespread.
Wind was calm and skies were sunny, with an air temp in the teens F.
We climbed to the Upper Mummy's (west facing) and found relatively little snow at 9,000'. Gullies that usually fill in from wind-loading were not showing much depth. HS was less than 6 inches on the hike up (see pic). Across the valley looking at Elephant and Palace Butte, the bowls were snow covered, but barely (pic). Lower elevation, east facing slopes were mostly mostly dirt.
The avalanche danger is non-existent on most slopes. The exception would be high elevation gullies that happened to get wind drifts, but these are not widespread.
Wind was calm and skies were sunny, with an air temp in the teens F.
Skiers reported triggering an avalanche on the east face of Mt. Blackmore on Sunday. Photo: Anonymous
Skiers reported triggering an avalanche on the east face of Mt. Blackmore on Sunday. Photo: Anonymous
From obs (10/29): "Went for a skin up to Hyalite Peak yesterday to check out snow conditions. We found about 8-12 inches of new snow sitting on a base at Hyalite Lake. We saw no signs of instability in the area. Small cornices were observed on the Hyalite saddle, and a hit or miss 1 inch wind slab directly below the ridge." Photo: T. Saulnier
From IG: “Pine creek today, some small wind slabs and a full depth wet slide off black mountain”
From IG: “Pine creek today (10/21), some small wind slabs and a full depth wet slide off black mountain”
From obs. "Was out alpine climbing today and observed the north face of Blackmore had slid already."
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NOW until
3:00pm Fri
Winter Weather Advisory
Overnight
Chance Snow
Low: 16 °F
Friday
Heavy Snow
and Patchy
Blowing Snow
High: 19 °F
Friday
Night
Snow Likely
Low: 7 °F
Saturday
Increasing
Clouds
High: 19 °F
Saturday
Night
Chance Snow
and Breezy
Low: 13 °F
Sunday
Chance Snow
and Breezy
High: 26 °F
Sunday
Night
Snow Likely
Low: 20 °F
Monday
Chance Snow
High: 26 °F
Listen to GNFAC Forecaster Dave Zinn on the Hoary Marmot Podcast for some extracurricular avalanche talk (link to episode).