Trip Planning for Northern Gallatin

as of 5:00 am
Today0″ | 25-45 SW
Dec 13 0″ | 25-50 SW
Dec 12 0″ | 14-19 SW
9982′     12/14 at 7:00
20.5℉
SW - 28mph
Gusts 48 mph
8100′     12/14 at 06:00
27℉
26″ Depth
Primary Problem: Wind Slab
Bottom Line: The primary avalanche concern today is wind drifts built from snow that fell earlier in the week. Steer around these drifts to keep things simple and avoid triggering a Wind Slab avalanche. If you’re going to cross a steep slope with a cohesive wind drift, watch out for cracking, which is a clear sign that the drift is ready to avalanche.

Past 5 Days

Mon Dec 9

Considerable
Tue Dec 10

Considerable
Wed Dec 11

Considerable
Thu Dec 12

Moderate
Fri Dec 13

Moderate

Relevant Avalanche Activity

Northern Gallatin
Mt Blackmore
Wind slab avalanche near summit of Mt Blackmore
Incident details include images
Mt Blackmore
HS-ASc-R1-D1-I
Elevation: 9,900
Aspect: N
Coordinates: 45.4444, -111.0040
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

From obs: "Intentionally triggered on a ski cut. Broke about 1 foot deep and 10 feet wide, ran on a hard compact surface below the soft wind slab." 


More Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin
Mt Blackmore
Loose Snow Avalanches Mt Blackmore
Incident details include images
Incident details contain video
Mt Blackmore
L-N-R1-D1-S
Elevation: 9,500
Aspect: E
Coordinates: 45.4444, -111.0040
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

Dave and I toured into Blackmore basin today and skinned up the SE shoulder to the ridge. As we entered the basin, we immediately noticed several natural loose snow avalanches (R1 D1) in steep rocky sections of the direct E face. These looked to have occurred in the last 12 hours, and though they would not have buried someone, they would have strained one through some nasty trees and cliffs.

 


More Avalanche Details

Relevant Photos

Displaying 1 - 28
  • Ice gullies snowpack

  • Snowpit on the Mt Blackmore

  • Light winds below treeline had little to effect on the snow in the history rock meadows. It was clearly blowing up high, with exposed nw faces stripped of snow and active transport visible off of Blackmore.

  • 8" of new snow at the Grotto Falls TH. 

     

  • Multiple pits yielded propagation in ECTs for a group in Beehive Basin on Saturday. Photo: E. Stutzman

  • "Intentionally triggered on a ski cut. Broke about 1 foot deep and 10 feet wide, ran on a hard compact surface below the soft wind slab. " Photo: Anonymous 

  • We noticed several natural loose snow avalanches (R1 D1) in steep rocky sections of the direct E face of Mt Blackmore. Though they were not large enough to bury someone, they would have strained a skier or rider through some nasty trees and cliffs. Photo: GNFAC

  • WE facing snow at 8100 ft Cabin Ck

  • SE facing snow Cabin Creek

  • N facing snow Cabin Creek, 9000 ft

  • Big Sky Ski Patrol triggered this avalanche during mitigation work in The Wave on 11/26/24... "2-3' deep on an ice crust just above the ground with a 2# shot in the Upper rodeo. Volume was limited as most of the snow was loaded just underneath the cornice, but still produced a sizeable size 2... Other paths in the Lenin region ran meaty wind slabs, full track with no significant step downs." Photo: BSSP

  • Cracking on old, faceted, October snow hundreds of feet long. North facing near treeline. Photo: BSSP

  • Intentional, human-triggered avalanche by a ski patrol breaking at the ground on a north facing slope near treeline. Photo: BSSP

  • Photo: A.A.

  • Photo: A.A.

  • Photo: A.A.

  • A 12" deep snowpack at History Rock. 11/14/24. Photo: GNFAC

  • Snow and dirt at History Rock on November 14, 2024. Photo: GNFAC

  • From obs: "Toured up into the Blackmore/Elephant basin today to get a sense of the snowpack ahead of the upcoming storm cycle. I poked around and dug in a few spots, trying to observe variations in snow depth and to observe where the snow has been faceting. Every pit I dug, ranging from N to SE facing, had faceting near the ground, all of which reacted in stability tests, if stubbornly. The most interesting test result was an ECTP21 in this layer of basal facets. That pit was dug in a large wind drift. I saw no propagation in any other pit or test.

    Strong wind gusts were moving large amounts of snow in the alpine, while below treeline they did not exceed moderate speeds and wind transport was non existent. Large drifts were present on lee slopes, while more exposed windward slopes had little to no snow.

    Otherwise the snowpack has behaved as one would expect. Solar aspects and exposed flats have a 2-3cm thick sun crust on the surface, and a further complex of crusts throughout the shallow snow pack. Snow depth ranged from 0 - 100 cm throughout the basin, and was generally thinner on solar aspects. Pretty bad skiing all around, not excluding the rock gardens on the skinner out." Photo: W. Hubbard

  • Snowpit at Bridger Bowl on 11/5. Photo: B. VandenBos

  • From e-mail: "Photo attached from near top of hyalite peak, 11/2. Cracking in recent hard wind slab, I had to really jump hard to make this. Walked on many other hard slabs that were well bonded. Highly variable snowpack. I think you'd be most likely to get into trouble by popping out a small hard slab pocket like this and getting magic carpeted into some thinly covered terrain." Photo: B. VandenBos

  • An intense period of snowfall on October 28 dropped 6” of snow in the Hyalite Canyon area. Photo: GNFAC

  • From obs: "1-3 mm faceting in front of the Montage. Clear skys and mid 20 temps"

  • A hiker on Mt. Blackmore noted 5-10 inches of snow on east through north aspects. Photo: B. VandenBos

  • A hiker on Mt. Blackmore noted 5-10 inches of snow on east through north aspects. Photo: B. VandenBos

  • On October 17, rain turned to snow and blanketed the mountains of southwest Montana with a fresh coat of snow. Photo: Yellowstone Club Webcam

  • On October 17, rain turned to snow and blanketed the mountains of southwest Montana with a fresh coat of snow. Photo: Bridger Bowl Webcams

  • The 26th annual fundraiser for the Friends of the GNFAC is October 25 at the Emerson Cultural Center. More info and tickets at: https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Powder-Blast-2024-101627

WebCams


Bozeman Pass, Looking SE

Snowpit Profiles- Northern Gallatin

 

Select a snowpit on the map to view the profile image

Weather Forecast Northern Gallatin

Extended Forecast for

14 Miles SE Gallatin Gateway MT

Winter Weather Advisory December 14, 11:00am until December 15, 05:00pmClick here for hazard details and duration Winter Weather Advisory
  • Today

    Today: A slight chance of snow before 11am, then a slight chance of snow after 3pm.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 20%.

    High: 30 °F

    Slight Chance
    Snow and
    Breezy

  • Tonight

    Tonight: Snow, mainly after 2am.  Low around 18. South southwest wind 10 to 13 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

    Low: 18 °F

    Chance Snow
    then Snow

  • Sunday

    Sunday: Snow, mainly before 11am. The snow could be heavy at times.  Temperature falling to around 15 by 5pm. West wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

    High: 23 °F⇓

    Heavy Snow
    then Chance
    Snow

  • Sunday Night

    Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as -5. South southwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

    Low: 10 °F

    Mostly Clear

  • Monday

    Monday: A 50 percent chance of snow, mainly after 11am.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.  New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    High: 23 °F

    Chance Snow

  • Monday Night

    Monday Night: Snow.  Low around 18. South southwest wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

    Low: 18 °F

    Snow

  • Tuesday

    Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly before 11am.  Partly sunny, with a high near 26. Southwest wind around 10 mph.  New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

    High: 26 °F

    Chance Snow

  • Tuesday Night

    Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. South southwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

    Low: 16 °F

    Partly Cloudy

  • Wednesday

    Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 31.

    High: 31 °F

    Mostly Sunny

The Last Word

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