Discouraged by the rain event in the Whitefish Range, we toured the Skyland Area off Maria's Pass. Dug a north facing pit at 7,000' south of Baldhead Mountain. We expected the strong overnight winds would have developed wind slabs at the ridge tops, but this was not observed. The main bowls and avy paths around Baldhead Mountain did look somewhat cross loaded, however. Total snow depth 220cm. ICT failed at 21 taps and revealed buried surface hoar 75cm down but that layer did not propagate in our pit. ECTX. We suspected this layer could be touchy elsewhere and stayed in treed terrain. Snowed very hard (~2 in/hour at times) with little to no wind. 4" had accumulated on the snowmobiles when we returned at 3:00 PM. At 7,000’ feet, the January 9th rain crust did not exist, but it was present at lower elevations. Saturday’s freezing rain event experienced in the WF Range did not reach Maria’s Pass. We enjoyed great skiing on NE aspects.
