Regional Conditions for Northern Madison

Small snowmobiler triggered avalanche in McAtee Basin. From Instagram: "I watched a snowmobiler set this avalanche off today" T. Chamberlain

Small snowmobiler triggered avalanche in McAtee Basin. From Instagram: "I watched a snowmobiler set this avalanche off today" T. Chamberlain

From email:

"I wanted to make you aware of a snowmobile triggered slide in Lionhead today. Fortunately, I was not injured, was able to stay completely on top, climbed through the majority of the snow wash after seeing it begin to break, and relatively slowly slid down with the last of the moving snow while still on the machine. When I came to a stop, I stood up and was completely free of the snow. Our group is trained in avalanche safety, practiced beacon use prior to leaving town in the morning, were wearing avy gear, and were very fortunate that this ended up the way it did. 

A clear reminder that this can happen to any of us and to be careful out there."

Photo: Anonymous 

From obs: "I was on the west side of Pioneer Mtn digging a pit for YC Ski Patrol. I heard a few groups of snowmobiles cruising around the foothills of cedar. I turned and saw two snowmobilers cresting the ridge above the slide pictured as the debris was settling down. The sledders enjoyed the view for a few minutes before turning back the way they came and stumbled upon the slide they had unknowingly triggered. They skirted around the side of the crown and stopped for a few minutes. Based on the height of the rider off his sled, I would estimate the crown to be roughly 10’ at its max height. NE aspect below Cedar" Photo: J. Marcinko

A skier was skinning uphill, breaking trail and triggered this avalanche on 1/19/20. They reported, " released a small pocket near texas meadow. Maybe 50 ft wide, 2 ft crown and ran 150 ft....I was not caught and nobody was buried or injured. I was skinning up at about 1130...I got to where it was steeper and as I reached thinner snow near rocks I felt a whump. I took one more step and the pocket released."

January 20^th from 4-8pm at Beehive Basin Brewery, join the YC and Big Sky Ski Patrols to support the Darren Johnson memorial fund. Darren was a ski patroller at the Yellowstone Club who was killed in an avalanche on January 19^th, 2016. The memorial fund gives scholarships to send patrollers to the National Avalanche School.

The crown of this snowmobiler triggered avalanche tapered to a thin slab. These thin areas of the slope are prime zones to trigger a slide from. Photo: GNFAC

"... while touring in the Northern Bridgers, my partner and I noticed a very large avalanche that occurred on a North face in "October Bowl" just to the south of Hardscrabble Pk. We didn't witness it and are unsure of a trigger, but we came in contact with all parties believed to be out there and assume it occurred naturally early this morning from heavy wind-loading. The crown seemed to be 2-3' deep but stepped down to the ground about 200' below the crown. The slide was about 400' in width and ran about 1,000' and we assumed classifications of R3.5 and D3. Debris pile was expansive and deep, and prompted us to stick to Southern aspects."  Photo: McKinley Talty

From an observation:

Once in the bottom of Bear Basin, we could see a much larger avalanche that looked to be 1-2 days old. Its disjointed crown was some 150ft wide, but it was hard to tell how deep it was, as its crown was fairly far away and partly blown back in. Parts of the slide ran on the ground layer of facets but looked to be the result of wind load. Photo: C. Kussmaul

From an observation:

Once in the bottom of Bear Basin, we could see a much larger avalanche that looked to be 1-2 days old. Its disjointed crown was some 150ft wide, but it was hard to tell how deep it was, as its crown was fairly far away and partly blown back in. Parts of the slide ran on the ground layer of facets but looked to be the result of wind load. Photo: C. Kussmaul

From e-mail: "Skiers triggered two separate slides on south Saddle this afternoon. we witnessed the smaller slide to the lookers right of the big slide, the bigger one happened later apparently... The first smaller slide was caused by a ski cut near the trees, fracture was about 2 feet, soft slab that seemed to run on a thin sun crust. below the sun crust was also very weak and sugary. Not sure when the second skier went farther out and triggered the whole bowl, but they got lucky!!" Photo: T. Andersen

Small skier triggered loose dry avalanche observed on a south-facing slope at about 9000' on the ridge separating Beehive and Middle basins. Photo: C. Oshiro-Leavitt

These natural avalanches likely occurred on Saturday, January 11. New snow and wind loaded slopes and we saw other slides as we rode around. Photo: GNFAC

This natural avalanche in 3rd Yellowmule on Buck Ridge likely occurred on Saturday, January 11. It was a wind loaded and very steep slope. It broke on facets near the ground and was big enough to bury a person (D2). The size was 2-3' deep, 200' wide and 75' vertical. Photo: GNFAC

This natural avalanche in 3rd Yellowmule on Buck Ridge likely occurred on Saturday, January 11. It was a wind loaded and very steep slope. It broke on facets near the ground and was big enough to bury a person (D2). The size was 2-3' deep, 200' wide and 75' vertical. Photo: GNFAC

Yellowstone Club Ski Patrol triggered a slide with explosives breaking at the ground during avalanche mitigation work on Friday, 1/10/2020.

From Yellowstone Club Patrol: "It’s a NE facing slope at 8500’ ... got an avalanche to release on an old layer of well defined surface hoar (perhaps from mid-December). In some areas it stepped to ground. The crown was 2-4’ deep and the avalanche was recorded as R3/D2. The avalanche slid to the bottom of the runout and placed 3-12’ of snow in the road and completely blocked the road. This was a relatively large slide for this particular path this early in the season."

Photo: YC Patrol

Small windslab on the apron of the Buttcrack Chute in Middle Basin. Likely broke 1/9 or morning of 1/10/2020. Photo: B. Gill

Natural avalanche observed just west of McAtee Basin, near Buck Ridge. Likely broke on 1/9/2019 or morning of 1/10/2019. Photo: J. Gerard

February 1, King and Queen of the Ridge at Bridger Bowl (fundraiser). This is the Friends of the Avalanche Center’s second biggest fundraiser of the year. Come on out and help us raise money by hiking and skiing laps on the ridge. Prizes, camaraderie and a good time is guaranteed. Register with Bridger to hike in the event, and create a pledge page to raise funds with your Ridge laps.

Photo: J. Bales

Large cornice collapse in Middle Basin. The cornice broke 10' back from the edge, 6-7' deep, and ran 800-1000' vertical. The collapse was triggered by a dog in another party. Photo: GNFAC

Large cornice collapse in Middle Basin. The cornice broke 10' back from the edge, 6-7' deep, and ran 800-1000' vertical. The collapse was triggered by a dog in another party. Photo: GNFAC

Large cornice collapse in Middle Basin. The cornice broke 10' back from the edge, 6-7' deep, and ran 800-1000' vertical. The collapse was triggered by a dog in another party. Photo: GNFAC

We visited the avalanche that was triggered by a snowmobiler and partially buried 2 people on January 4th. The crown was 10 feet at the deepest part. Photo: GNFAC

We visited the avalanche that was triggered by a snowmobiler and partially buried 2 people on January 4th. The crown was 10 feet at the deepest part. Photo: GNFAC

We visited the avalanche that was triggered by a snowmobiler and partially buried 2 people on January 4th. The crown was 10 feet at the deepest part. Photo: GNFAC

Photo: Carter Olson

Snowmobile buried in debris of a slide that was triggered by a rider and caught two others who were on their sleds below. See link below for more details. Photo: Carter Olson

Photo: Quinn

Triggered during control work on 1/4/2020. Photo: BSSP

Triggered during control work on 1/4/2020. Photo: BSSP

Snowmobilers triggered this slide in the 3rd Yellow Mule off Buck Ridge on Saturday (1/4/20).

 @carter.olson

This slide was triggered by Bridger Bowl ski patrol during control work on Saturday (1/4/2020). It shows deeply buried persistent weak layers from early October and November were pushed to a breaking point by the recent snow and wind. A person can trigger avalanches like this on heavily wind loaded slopes in the backcountry. Additionally, shallower large avalanches can be triggered on any steep slope. Photo: BBSP

A natural avalanche crown was seen on Yellow Mountain near Big Sky on Saturday morning (1/4/20). Photo: A. Schauer

A party of three skiers remote triggered avalanche with at least 6' crown off N face of Mt Porphry along rockband near summit on 12/29/19. They triggered it after tyhey had found "Three pits dug on NE face ascending Mt Porphry indicating increasing stability and no clean propagation. Approx 150-210 cm deep snowpack." Photo: G. Alsentzer

From e-mail: "Toured in Beehive today. Good snow but very windy. Pics show a large avalanche in the area where “Going Home” ends. Lighting was difficult so not that clear. There was a smaller slide just to the right of the picture and one chute from the end of “Going Home”.

The slide pictures took out some small trees. I was surprised how far into the low angle the debris ran.

Hard to know if this was skier triggered but there were one set of tracks coming down Going Home." Photo: A. Crawford

From e-mail: "Toured in Beehive today. Good snow but very windy. Pics show a large avalanche in the area where “Going Home” ends. Lighting was difficult so not that clear. There was a smaller slide just to the right of the picture and one chute from the end of “Going Home”.

The slide pictures took out some small trees. I was surprised how far into the low angle the debris ran.

Hard to know if this was skier triggered but there were one set of tracks coming down Going Home." Photo: A. Crawford