Snow Observations List

We rode around the north and south sides of Mt Jefferson, and Yale Creek. The danger has definitely dropped and the snowpack has stabilized a lot since I was last here on New Year's Eve when we experienced big thunderous collapses. The peak instability was around the first week of January. We could see evidence of just a few slides from that time. All the snowfall during that time made conditions dangerous then....but stable now. Since Xmas eve, this area has received snow containing 4.5-6.5 inche of water.

Today we didn't see any recent avalanches. We didn't experience any collapsing or cracking. We had stubborn stability tests with columns that took a lot of hard hits to break even where the snowpack was thinner.

I'm not ready to climb up steep chutes on Jefferson, but I'm feeling really comfortable in many other areas - especially places with a 5-6 ft deep snowpack.

Winds were moving a little snow. One wind slab/drift produced a shooting crack but we couldn't get any others to crack.

We skied to the top of Mt. Ellis via the ridge from the north. There was light wind on the ridge, otherwise calm. Snowing steadily this morning and tapered off by noon-1pm with skies clearing after noon. There were 2-4" of low density new snow. We dug a pit off the ridgeline on a northeast facing slope at 7,800' and one pit at the top of the burned slope, east facing at 8,100'. Profiles attached.

The first pit had an ECTX and the second had propagation with extra force. There were 2mm facets 30cm off the ground in both pits which were slightly softer in the higher pit. Snow depth was 3-4 feet up high and around 2 feet lower in the thicker trees and along the trails.

Beyond what we saw today, evidence of good stability in the northern Gallatin Range also includes not having heard of any avalanches (or only 1-2 small pockets) breaking on the weak layers near the bottom of the snowpack during the 2-3 weeks of steady snowfall from late Dec to early Jan. The snowpack has had a break from loading for the last few days which has allowed avalanche potential to continue to become less likely.

In general, stability was good and we felt good skiing slopes steeper than 30-35 degrees, while exposing only one person at a time.

Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol shared this photo of wind transport on Saddle Peak on 1/16/25.

Large wind transport in Spanish peaks

We rode under the full length of Skyline ridge under all the south facing slide paths. 

The only avalanches we spotted were from 1-2 weeks ago. No cracking or collapsing observed.

Snowpack

• Depths ranged from about 1m to 1.5 m. The snow really got shallow as we rode west and down the cabin creek drainage. Above 8800ft and closer to the Teepee/Cabin divide, coverage was great.
• The layer of facets from early December is much weaker where the snow is less than 1 m deep and gaining strength where the snow is around 1.5m deep. 
• Conditions didn't seem dangerous. Remotely triggering a slide seems very unlikely. The odds of triggering a slide on those facets seems pretty low but still something that could happen. 
• What mainly felt dangerous is letting your guard down. With tracks everywhere, sunshine, great traction, and supportable snow, we felt that it would be easy to be complacent. If an avalanche happened, then we'd be unprepared.
• The odds of triggering a persistent slab avalanche will continue to step down unless there is another loading event (ie - more wind and snow).

Moving foward

• The danger and avalanche conditions will be dependent on weather. A small amount of snow and very cold weather is expected in the next 5 or so days
• Wind could still form more wind slabs
• The inch or two or three of snow that could come Fri/Sat will be subjected to bitter cold weather and could create a new faceted layer...time will tell
• Continue to maintain safe travel practices: exposing only one person at a time to avalanche terrain, having everyone else watch from a safe location, ensuring everyone has rescue gear and knows how to use it.

Overall impression - The snowpack in this area probably isn't as stable or strong as it is in the Northern Madison Range closer to Big Sky. The snowpack is probably stronger and more stable than on Lionhead. 

This morning we went touring at Hebgen up to the ridgelines near the northern end of the lake. Winds were calm for the duration of our tour. Snow depths are still pretty shallow relative to much of the advisory area, around 95cm HS on the ridgelines at 9000 feet. We experienced no cracking or collapsing but kept a high degree of suspicion due to the shallow, weak snowpack and stayed off avalanche terrain. 

We encountered widespread surface hoar on east aspects above 8000 feet. There were enough intermittent clouds and lack of winds that I suspect it could be buried by the next round of snowfall. Time will tell!

Lots of snow moving around in Hyalite this morning! Strong winds were moving snow at/above treeline, Lee aspects getting loaded. Observed a fresh slide on the north side of Mt Blackmore, crown was already filling in, but looked to be a foot or two deep in steep rocky terrain to the skiers left of the north couloir. Some big snow bombs coming out of the trees on the trail right onto your head.

Observed freshly formed surface hoar near the top of Woody Ridge, 9800-10000 ft, W facing. Winds were light out of the N

Unsurprisingly there’s still a shallow weak snowpack up specimen creek and the adjacent drainages. I had lots of collapsing today, especially in wind affected areas near ridge tops. This coincided with an ectp23 I got on a south facing slope near the head of Wikiup creek. The snowpack has a similar set up to the rest of the advisory area with basal facets underneath a dense slab, but overall shallower.

The biggest hazard out there is still probably the low cover and boot top potential, I was tip toeing over downed trees all day.

Went looking for shallow and weak snow. Found it in the small steep slope just above the creek not far from the TH (HS ~80-90cm, fist hard facets near the ground, ECTP18).

Then dug near the top of Tyler's where it is typically weak. HS 103 cm, F+ hardness facets about a foot above the ground, ECTP28).

In Middle Basin we found snow depths of 150 cm and 200 cm. 

No avalanches seen and we had good visibility. (one group was skiing in upper Bear)

No collapsing or cracking either.

It seems unlikely to trigger avalanches on facets in deeper areas. It seems possible in thinner areas. How possible? Not sure exactly, but the odds are decreasing the longer things sit without more snow or wind loading. 

The primary concerns moving forward are wind slabs and storm slabs unless there is some major storm with a lot of wind and water.

Generally Moderate danger but we could be moving towards Low with time and depending on the weather. 

Snow quality  - lots of good powder, but lots of wind affected snow above treeline. Sunny slopes got damp today.

Saw cracking of cornices on the ridgeline NE of Mount Blackmore. Just a little nudge released a significant portion. A good reminder to give cornices room above and below.

Other than that, it was a beautiful day of skiing with sun, moderate temps, and pow. 👍

Things were really moving by mid morning. The trail along Unnamed Wall was buried in several places by wet slides as the wall warmed. Some were big enough to take you down. We did not see any movement on the other side of the valley.

Yesterday afternoon, 1/14, saw lots of roller balls and a few sizable sluffs come down around the dribbles area. This morning lots of small sluffs coming down around bingo cave as soon as the sun hit it. Noticeably heavy, wet snow on solar slopes as well.

This avalanche was spotted from the air on Wednesday, Jan 15 on Red Mountain in the southern Madison Range (just west of Ernest Miller Ridge).

It appears to be on an east facing slope at around 9800 ft.

We rode into Portal Creek to the ridgeline above Hidden Lakes and back below Windy Pass. During our ride, we noted no avalanche activity or signs of instability. We dug twice to the ground. Once above Hidden Lakes and once in the corner of an avalanche path below Windy Pass. 

Bottom Line: 

• The snowpack is DEEP. The measured HS was "1 Dave" or 6'5" (200 cm).
• Stability is looking good in our pits, and we are optimistic. 
• ECTNs-mid teens within the layers of the post-Christmas storm snow. 
• Faceted snow near the base of the snowpack is hardening and rounding. Even with extra prodding (deep taps and an unofficial cross-slope PST), we couldn't get it to break or propagate failure.
• The mountain range is expansive, and one must assume spatial variability on both slope and certainly the range scale, but this is good. 

Big Picture: 

• Other than one avalanche that appeared to break on persistent weak layers below Maid of the Mist, Ian and I couldn't think of another persistent slab avalanche in the Northern Gallatin Range. 
• Wind Slab avalanches are the most likely issue.
• Danger is dropping quickly. 
• We don't trust facets often and aren't ready to write off the basal weakness, but triggering an avalanche on these layers seems unlikely for now. 
• This puts wind slab avalanches as the primary concern... and it hasn't been very windy. So, this seems limited for now. 

Terrain Recommendations:

• It is appropriate to consider riding and skiing in avalanche terrain if one is willing to accept the inherent levels of uncertainty involved with steep, backcountry terrain.
• We are pessimistic by nature and like to hedge our bets. The way to do this is by selecting terrain less likely to avalanche (not as steep, more uniform in depth—less rocky, potentially shallow areas, and not wind-loaded) and terrain with lesser consequences (smaller slopes, fewer terrain traps, clean runouts). 

While driving to and from West Yellowstone today, I noticed what is potentially a skier/snowboarder triggered avalanche on the east side of HWY 191 on a West/Southwesterly aspect, directly across the highway from the Bacon Rind Area and Snowslide Creek.  There were numerous tracks through steep rocky chutes next to the road, one of which had avalanched perhaps 75' wide, 18-24" deep, and running nearly to the flats at the base of the slope.  Judging by the thin layer of fresh snow it potentially happened on Sunday or maybe Monday.  There were tracks through the cliffs above the slide and coming out of the slide.  

On our way up Mt. Ellis, we noted widespread surface hoar on east facing slopes above ~7000', especially in open areas. Grain sizes ranged from 1 mm to 3+ mm at higher elevations. Winds were calm almost all day, even while on the skin track along the ridgeline. Given another 1-2 days of clear, calm conditions in the weather forecast, these surface grains could certainly continue to grow in size before the next storm.

We dug a pit on a south facing slope just below the Mt. Ellis summit. The snowpack on this solar aspect (77 cm) and not quite as deep as on easterly aspects. Although we found some basal facets in our pit, the bottom layer was stronger than we expected. We did not get propagating results on any layer with our ECT. Afterwards, skiing conditions on eastern slopes were excellent.

Spotted another natural avalanche today on Woody Ridge north of the "KNBs." Northwest facing slope, crown elevation approx 9600'. Ran 1000 to 1200'. Unsure of when it went, we did not notice it this morning only this afternoon on the hike out. 

On 1/12 observed a D .5 soft slab near Long Lake above the snowmobile trail. Also saw some small dry loose activity on E facing terrain in Zimmer Creek. 

18 inches of powder at the East Fork Divide. Overall, found about 4 feet of snow. Rocks lurking slightly under the snow surface in some areas. Base was pretty solid - a surprise. There is a faceted layer at the bottom but the snowpack was pretty consolidated and fun to ride with good traction. Did not see any fissures or cracks in slope and dust feel any collapsing slabs during the ride.