Forecaster Observation - Canyon Creek, Whitefish Range

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - Canyon Creek, Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 03/26/2017 - 13:00
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

We toured the backcountry east and north of the WMR ski area with the focus of determining recent wind loading, snow surface conditions, near surface snowpack structure and loose wet avalanche activity due to Sundays warm sunny conditions.

  • Limited wind slab development was observed throughout our tour despite recent strong winds.
  • The snow surface consisted of 3" of new dense (20%) snow.
  • Below the new snow was a 18" thick P+ hard crust.
  • Below this crust was a thick layer of 1F hard snow.
  • A snowpit dug at 6400' on a south aspect revealed a snowpack depth of 315 cm.
  • Limited natural loose wet avalanche activity was observed on numerous steep south facing avalanche paths despite warm sunny conditions.
  • We were able to trigger numerous thin loose wet avalanches on our descent on a steep south facing aspect at 14:00.
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Activity: 
Skiing