Observation Date: 02/14/2020

Route/Location:
We skied Pinball Wizard in the Bass Creek Drainage (Central Bitterroot).

Weather:
Snow was in and out throughout the day. At times it was snowing up to 2″ an hour, but it had stopped snowing by the time we got back to the car in the afternoon.

Wind:
Winds were light to moderate. Lots of blowing snow throughout the day, and we found plenty of fresh wind slabs. Direction was variable, but the chute we were in was getting cross loaded from the east.

New Snow: 3-6″

Avalanche Activity:
Limited visibility made it hard to see if there was much activity in the area. We triggered a few small sluffs, which could have picked up more momentum in steeper terrain. We were diligently avoiding steep, wind-loaded terrain. We did get one wind slab to propagate in an ECT.

Other Comments:
More snow and wind will make the wind slab problem a growing concern. Stability is good on non-wind loaded slopes. There was a stout crust from 2/13, but 3-6″ new snow was bonding well to this old surface.

Observer: Andrew Schauer