Upper Gallatin

I went on a ski around the Bighorn/Fawn Pass loop today, and had some unfortunate, but unsurprising observations. There was about 30-60 cm of snow on the ground, which consisted of a low-density slab sitting on top of unconsolidated, sugary facets. Each step forward on skis gave little resistance as I sank all the way to the ground. I observed one small, recent avalanche on a wind-loaded north aspect at 7800’, which clearly failed at the new snow/facet interface (the base is so rotten here there was an obvious difference in tone between the layers). Only one Meadow gave an audible whumph for me, but I imagine that will become more common as we get a little more SWE in the coming days. Light snowfall and moderate winds were creating drifts surprisingly quickly.