Trip Planning for Southern Madison

Wet slide to the ground above Quake Lake. Photo: K Kramer

Skiers unintentionally triggered this cornice above the south face of the Sphinx. No one was caught. Photo: Anonymous

There was a full-depth wet slab avalanche that broke last week during the warm-up on Lightning Ridge. GNFAC

We saw one new wind-slab avalanche in Sunlight Basin. It was small. From a distance, it appeared to be about 6" deep and 30' across (R1-D1). GNFAC

Spring cornices are growing very large above many wind-loaded slopes. GNFAC

We rode from Taylor Fork through Cabin Creek on March 17. We saw a few recent slab avalanches that happened after the last snowfall, and some recent natural wet loose avalanches, and a cornice fall. Photo: GNFAC

We rode from Taylor Fork through Cabin Creek on March 17. We saw a few recent slab avalanches that happened after the last snowfall, and some recent natural wet loose avalanches, and a cornice fall. Photo: GNFAC

We rode from Taylor Fork through Cabin Creek on March 17. We saw a few recent slab avalanches that happened after the last snowfall, and some recent natural wet loose avalanches, and a cornice fall. Photo: GNFAC

We rode from Taylor Fork through Cabin Creek on March 17. We saw a few recent slab avalanches that happened after the last snowfall, and some recent natural wet loose avalanches, and a cornice fall. Photo: GNFAC

A natural or human-triggered avalanche near the skin track at Bacon Rind. Photo: GNFAC

A natural or human-triggered avalanche near the skin track at Bacon Rind. Photo: GNFAC

Deep shooting cracks near an avalanche at Bacon Rind. Photo: GNFAC

We rode into Tepee Basin and saw two recent avalanches on 3/2/24. This one looked like it maybe happened yesterday, on a heavily wind-loaded slope below some cornices, 2-2.5' deep and 250-300' wide. Photo: GNFAC

We rode into Tepee Basin and saw two recent avalanches on 3/2/24. One looked like it happened this morning on a treed ridgeline, 1-1.5' deep 150-200' wide. Photo: GNFAC

Skiers on 03/02/2024 saw a natural avalanche on an east-facing slope and broke 3-4' deep and 100' wide. This avalanche likely happened in the last 24 hours. Photo: A. Faulkner

We noted a relatively small avalanche on the wall of Sage Basin that failed naturally within the storm snow. Photo: GNFAC

Skiers on 02/22/2024 observed an old avalanche that appeared to of been natural that happened sometime last week near 02/15 -02/16. Photo: H. Bigos-Lowe

The skillet slid sometime recently. Based on the snow on top I'm guessing Thursday-Friday last week (Feb 15-16th), but it could have happened up to a week earlier. Broke ~2 ft deep, 150 ft wide, and it was hard to tell how far it ran, but I'm estimating 200 vertical feet. Photo: GNFAC

From IG: 2 avalanches from either this morning or yesterday at the bottom of Skyline ridge 2’ at the crown

From FB 02/17/24: "Observed runout debris from a small avalanche on a south facing forested slope in Upper Tepee Basin. Shows avalanches can occur through forested areas." Photo: C. Sexton

From obs: "We observed another, probably rider triggered avalanche in Wapiti Creek that broke on old snow near the ground ~2 feet deep and ~60ft across." Photo: S. Jett

From obs: "We observed large natural avalanches from afar on the west side of Snowslide Mountain. We observed these from a few miles away and were probably several feet deep and a few hundred feet wide." Photo: S. Jett

From obs: "We observed large natural avalanches from afar on...the east aspect of a peak south of Woodward Mountain. We observed these from a few miles away and were probably several feet deep and a few hundred feet wide." Photo: S. Jett

Natural avalanche in Sunlight Basin. Photo taken 2/14/24. Slide appeared to be a few days old. Photo Credit: GNFAC

Avalanche in Sage Basin that appeared likely to have been remotely triggered by a snowmobiler from ~100 ft away. Photo taken 2/14/24. Slide was fresh, likely broke yesterday, 2/13/24. Photo Credit: GNFAC

Natural avalanche in Sage Basin. Photo taken 2/14/24. Slide appeared to be a few days old. Photo Credit: GNFAC

Natural avalanche in Sage Basin. Photo taken 2/14/24. Slide appeared to be a few days old. Photo Credit: GNFAC

An overview photo of the 3/4 mile wide avalanche in Tepee Basin. Photo: A. Vaughn

Photo of a natural avalanche that was reported on 02/09/2024. Photo taken on 02/10/2024. Photo: Z. Peterson

Photo of a natural avalanche that was reported on 02/09/2024. Photo taken on 02/10/2024. Photo: Z. Peterson

A portion of the debris pile from a rider triggered an avalanche on 02/07/2024. This avalanche broke 3/4 of a mile wide and had multiple large piles of debris with this being one of the largest. 

The contiuation of the crown of an avalanche that was remotely triggered by a rider on 02/07. This was a very wide avalanche that broke 3/4 of a mile long, 3-4' deep. Photo: GNFAC

The crown of an avalanche that was remotely triggered by a rider on 02/07. This was a very wide avalanche that broke 3/4 of a mile long, 3-4' deep. Photo: GNFAC

This crack opened up above our snowpit as we made our exit away from the steeper terrain of the "Skillet" run toward low-angle trees. Photo: GNFAC

We triggered booming collapses and watched cracks shoot out across terrain features and snow shake off nearby trees for the entirety of our tour from the meadow near the car to the top of the Skillet. Photo: GNFAC

From obs: "We heard numerous large-scale collapses and witnessed the development of propagating tensile fractures on a 20°-25° slope along the skin track.... We skied this location 4 times this week. Each time, we experienced collapsing and fracturing within the snowpack. and stuck to skiing conservative, low-angle lines." Photo: T. Kalakay

We saw multiple old avalanches that happened sometime in the last week, likely near the end of the last storm. Photo: GNFAC

We saw multiple old avalanches that happened sometime in the last week, likely near the end of the last storm. Photo: GNFAC

Recent avalanches seen in Taylor Fork near Beaver Creek. These likely happened on 01/31/2024. Photo: GNFAC

From email: "A friend and I were riding in lower Tepee today, staying on low angle terrain because of the current avalanche conditions. When side hilling on a 24 degree slope, I saw cracks shoot out approximately 100 feet around me. It was a smaller slope, but things are still pretty sensitive. This was a north facing slope in a valley that shouldn’t have been too wind loaded. " Photo: J. Norlander