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Mount Grant and Grant Glacier
Location Name:
Mount Grant and Grant Glacier
Observation date:
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - 13:00
Is this an Avalanche Observation:
Yes
Observation made by:
Public
Location
Tabs
Quick Observation
Toured up the East Fork of Tunnel Creek to the high saddle between Liebig and False Grant, and traverse from there to the summit of Mount Grant (8590').
There was about 1-3 inches of new snow down low in the forest, but once out of the trees and above 5500', the ski penetration varied from 4 inches to 12+ inches. While traveling up to the ridge, we noticed that the snow was clearly wind effected, but we did not observe many signs of instability. In a few isolated spots we produced cracking in the wind slabs while making a kick turn.
We gained the ridge just before 11am, and the winds were ripping up there (25-30+ miles per hour constantly) and the south facing snow surface was fairly scoured. There was enough soft snow to keep skis on all the way to the false summit however.
From the ridge, we climbed false Grant by traversing and climbing on the South Face.
We descended the false summit via the ridge (giving the massive, actively growing, cornices wide berth) to the saddle above Grant Glacier.
We climbed to the summit of Mount Grant, and descended back down the ridge for the first 300 ft before entering the East Face at a break in the cornices.
Skiied 4300' down to the West Fork of Tunnel Creek. The snow remained cold and soft on this NE aspect all the way down to 4300', with no signs of instability.
The south facing and east facing slopes above the west fork basin had shed numerous small wet loose avalanches throughout the day. Many of which traveled all the way to the valley floor.
Many of the peaks in this part of the Flathead Range were flagging severely throughout the afternoon, Creating fresh wind slabs on North and East Facing slopes up high. The south facing slopes we traveled on near ridgelines remained cold throughout the day with plenty of soft snow still available for transport. The snow plumes we observed were quite impressive. (refer to photos and video)
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images:
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Videos:
Flagging in the Flathead Range
Video of Flagging in the Flathead Range
Travel Details
Region:
Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor
Activity:
Skiing
Snowboarding
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details:
Terrain
Elevation of observation:
3500-5000 ft
5000-6500 ft
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation:
N
NE
E
SE
S
Red Flags:
Blowing snow
New Snow in the past 24 hours:
3.00in.
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details:
Date and Time of Avalanche:
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - 12:00
Avalanche Type:
Wet Loose
Failure Plane/Weak Layer:
Within storm snow
Trigger
Trigger:
natural
Terrain
Aspect:
Southeast
Starting Elevation:
near-treeline
Size
Destructive Size:
D1.5
Relative Size:
R1 Very Small
Avalanche Location:
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