Weak facets buried, and new snow

Weak facets buried, and new snow

Date
Activity
Skiing

This afternoon (2/5/23), we rode over Daisy Pass in hopes of seeing the recent skier triggered slide on Fisher Mountain, but it had started snowing and visibility was too limited to see the crown or get to the slide. We rode around the back of Fisher to Lulu Pass and then up to the south shoulder of Scotch Bonnet to dig a pit. There was an old, large pile of debris at the bottom of one of the Rasta Chutes that I assume slid last weekend.

We dug a pit at 9,600' on a southwest facing slope. HS was 160cm. Below last weekend's snow (1 foot/30cm deep) was a 10 cm thick layer of soft facets (F+ hardness). We had an ECTN 21 and ECTP 21 on this layer. The recent skier triggered avalanche on Fisher probably broke on this layer, on a more wind-loaded slope. This layer will be a problem for a while, especially as it gets loaded by more new and wind-drifted snow.

Wind was moderate out of the southwest-west, and at 4pm there was 3" of low-density new snow.

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Scotch Bonnet
Observer Name
Alex Marienthal