Middle forkin'

Location Name: Cascadilla Observation date: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 - 21:15	Is this an Avalanche Observation: Yes

Observation made by: Public

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Quick Observation

We saw two D2 slides on a SE aspect, one with a debris pile at 4600' and the other at 4800'. Given the wind-softened edges of chunks, they were probably at least a few days old. Likely originated at ridge but did not view crowns. Debris certainly looked slab-like rather than loose wet. Saw one natural D2 windslab on ENE at 7100' (see avalanche tab) (previously reported here).
From highway til 4600', around 9:15-10:30 we found a very soft refreeze overnight. On our exit at 2:30, 4600' was also where we encountered a sudden shift from dryish snow on a steep NW aspect to very sticky saturated snow below. Rollerball activity at 4400' (photo) made us tune in to Loose Wet concerns, but did not trigger any.
Did not dig for persistent slab, but encountered no red flags and hand pits showed a resistant interface.
Highly variable wind effect encountered everywhere from trim line/wilderness boundary/valley bottom and up. Sometimes scoured, dimpled near-blue ice bed surface, sometimes pillows at least a few feet thick and up to 1F+ hardness. Ski crampon territory.
Morning winds quickly progressed to moderate and stayed there through the day. No visible snow remained for transport.
Partially to avoid what seemed a complicated windslab situation, partially to find softer snow, we skipped on exposed near-treeline terrain around 6200' and instead found shelter in the trees below. Recycled, wind effected, but still soft on a true N.

Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images:

Travel Details

Region:

Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor

Route Description:

Up Cascadilla to N saddle at 5800'.

Activity:

Skiing

Avalanche Details

Avalanche Details:

Date and Time of Avalanche:

Monday, February 7, 2022 - 12:00

Number of avalanches:

Avalanche Type:

Hard Slab

Failure Plane/Weak Layer:

New/old snow interface

More information or comments about the avalanche:

Est. of size/dimensions/date triggered. Large cornices above on ridge, so seems a likely trigger.

Trigger

Trigger:

natural

Trigger Modifier:

Cornice Fall Triggered

Terrain

Start Zone Slope Angle:

Aspect:

Northeast

Starting Elevation:

7100'

Size

Destructive Size:

D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.

Relative Size:

R2 Small

Crown Height:

1 ft

Avalanche Length (Vertical Run):

600ft.

Avalanche Width (Average width):

150ft.

People Involved

Number of people caught:

Number of partial burials:

Number of full burials:

Avalanche Location:

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