No March Madness

Afternoon drive to survey the Apgar Range for wet snow avalanche activity, with a look at the peaks above Lake McDonald as well. More info on slides in the avalanche details tab.

• Summits and many upper elevation slopes of peaks above Lake McDonald still hold rime. Ice still hangs on the north-facing cliffs on these peaks. Very little avalanche activity was visible through binoculars. The one exception seemed to be the west-northwest facing slopes onMt. Cannone and Mt. Edwards, where a half dozen long-running loose snow avalanches look to have run this weekend. 
• One recent natural avalanche was visible on a northeast facing knob near the Apgar Lookout. This appeared to be a very thin slab similar to those that ran in the Nyack/ Cascadilla area of he Flathead Range this weekend. 
• Surprisingly few rollerballs were visible on the steep, west facing slopes of the Apgar Range. At one spot (image), these coalesced into a short-running wet loose slide at about 5000 feet. No rollerballs visible with binoculars in Rubideau Bowl or east-facing slopes near Apgar Lookout. The cornice in Rubideau was intact. 
• Low-elevation snow cover is variable. Many (but not all) south and southwest-facing slopes in the Apgars and on Deming Ridge were bare or had patchy snow below about 5200, Similar conditions in Coal Creek. North and east-facing slopes retain a thick snow cover, with the weekends snow moist to wet at road elevation and still precipitation particles or decomposing fragments. 
• The blast of easterly and northerly winds this weekend left complex drift and corncie patterns near the crest of the Apgar Range, on wet and northwest facing slopes.

Not much of a wet snow avalanche cycle for the sun, especially given the events last year this week. Too little loose snow, and what there was very cold when it fell and sits on hard melt-freeze crusts. Check back later for images.