Safety Dance! Persistent Slab Party in The Park

We found storm and persistent instabilities reactive today in central Glacier Park.

• We easily triggered small storm slabs by stomping near the start zone of a steep, east facing chute at 6,600 feet. More details in the avalanche and snowpack tabs.
• We experienced a big, deep whumpf and shooting cracks as we eased onto a northeast facing slope at 7,400 feet. We dug a pit nearby and confirmed that the offending layer was a faceted crust under about 2 feet of snow. We also found depth hoar developing at this location.
• We saw at least 2 large natural avalanches on nearby peaks that we expect ran during the storm in the early hours of this morning.
• At middle elevations we found between 8 and 18 inches of snow. At upper elevations we found between 25 and 40 inches. Snow cover increases quickly above about 5,000 feet, but we had to walk below that elevation.
• We had planned to ascend on low angled ridges and limit our terrain choices if we found any signs of instability. After finding that we could get into plenty of trouble on the steeps, we boogied down the way we had come and found good skiing until the snow got too thin to safely slide. You can dance if you want to, but you got to keep it under control.