Today's travel in the Southern Whitefish Range highlighted how ripe the conditions are for human triggered avalanches. We were feeling booming collapses on almost all aspects throughout our travels. The decision was easy to keep slope angles low after a collapse that sent a ~150' shooting crack above us. We skied on slopes in the low 30-degree range and avoided overhead start zones.
Today we found:
- Whompfing collapses at: 6700' SW aspect, 6200' S aspect, 6400' SE aspect, 6800' ridgeline X 2, and 6700' N aspect
- Active wind-loading onto NE aspect, forming reactive cornices.
- Height of snow ranged 75 cm to 110 cm above 6000'.
With a storm on deck, I expect the current weather forecast to make touchy avalanche conditions.
