Wet loose avalanches released in the warm sunshine on Tuesday, March 2nd. We expect many more in the coming days. Photo: S. Jonas
Regional Conditions for Northern Madison
Past 5 Days

Moderate

Considerable

Considerable

Moderate

Moderate
Avalanche Activity- Northern Madison


SS-ASu-R2-D1.5-O
Aspect: NE
Coordinates: 45.1912, -111.4430
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL4xIk5n8PZ/
Sled Skiing in Third Yellow mule... after an air onto the slope the impact from landing resulted in a fracture and failure to / near the ground... in addition, a remote trigger occurred on adjacent slope... 200-300 ft to the skiers right. No body was caught in either slide. Skier that initiated failure was moving at high speed and was beyond slide path before majority of snow movement began. 2 pits where dug prior to riding terrain. One on adjacent slope, we went through to ECT 30 and continued to hammer on the column through 40 wacks of double fist, full force before failure occurred 30 cm above ground. Second pit was dug on slope where slide was initiated... same results, very hard to get failure to occur. Snowpack depth varied from 125 - 180 cm in the area... our pits were dug in depths of around 125 cm and 170 cm respectively.
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HS-AMu-R4-D2-O
Coordinates: 44.8949, -111.2280
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0
Riders triggered this slide on 2/28/21 near Red Canyon/Cabin Creek, north of West Yellowstone. Nobody caught or injured, but close call.
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SS-N-R3-D2
Coordinates: 45.1719, -111.3800
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0
Natural avalanche on Buck Ridge. Observed 2/26/2021. Looks to have failed recently. Propagated widely.
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Photos- Northern Madison
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Small loose wet avalanches on Buck Ridge (3/2/21).
Photo: GNFAC
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Natural avalanche near Cedar Mountain. 3-4 feet deep. Observed on 3/2/21, likely broke around 2/23 or 2/24.
Photo: GNFAC
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Overview of the slides triggered by skiers in the 3rd Yellowmule on Sunday 2/28/21.
Photo: GNFAC (3/2/21)
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Sled Skiing in Third Yellow mule... after an air onto the slope the impact from landing resulted in a fracture and failure to / near the ground... in addition, a remote trigger occurred on adjacent slope... 200-300 ft to the skiers right. No body was caught in either slide. Skier that initiated failure was moving at high speed and was beyond slide path before majority of snow movement began. Photo: W. Miller
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Sled Skiing in Third Yellow mule... after an air onto the slope the impact from landing resulted in a fracture and failure to / near the ground... in addition, a remote trigger occurred on adjacent slope... 200-300 ft to the skiers right. No body was caught in either slide. Skier that initiated failure was moving at high speed and was beyond slide path before majority of snow movement began. Photo: W. Miller
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Sled Skiing in Third Yellow mule... after an air onto the slope the impact from landing resulted in a fracture and failure to / near the ground... in addition, a remote trigger occurred on adjacent slope... 200-300 ft to the skiers right. No body was caught in either slide. Photo: W. Miller
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This avalanche was triggered on Sunday, 2/28, when a skier released another slide 2-300 feet away. It broke at the same time. No one was caught. This was in the Third Yellow Mule on Buck Ridge. Photo: W. Miller
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Photo from 2/28/21: @bigsky114
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Seen 2/28/21. A few days old. Photo: D. McCabe (YCSP)
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Riders triggered this slide on 2/28/21 near Red Canyon/Cabin Creek, north of West Yellowstone. Nobody caught or injured, but close call.
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Riders triggered this slide on 2/28/21 near Red Canyon/Cabin Creek, north of West Yellowstone. Nobody caught or injured, but close call.
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Riders triggered this slide on 2/28/21 near Red Canyon/Cabin Creek, north of West Yellowstone. Nobody caught or injured, but close call.
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Riders triggered this slide on 2/28/21 near Red Canyon/Cabin Creek, north of West Yellowstone. Nobody caught or injured, but close call.
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There was 6' of snow off the ridge in the Bridger Range on an east facing slope. The top 2 feet were recent wind drifting that broke clean in our stability test which indicated unstable conditions (ECTP18). We expect similar conditions and instability with wind-loaded slops throughout our forecast area. Photo: GNFAC
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In the last 24 hours (2/28) 12" of low density powder and 40-50 mph west wind made it easy to trigger wind-drifted snow. Alex kicked these drifts which cracked and moved. We expect similar conditions and instability with wind-loaded slops throughout our forecast area. Photo: GNFAC
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Natural avalanche on Buck Ridge. Observed on 2/27/2021 and looks to have failed recently.
Photo: @sledr700
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This deep slab avalanche on the E face of Cedar Mountain likely avalanched in the last day or two (Feb 24). Photo: B. Rode
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The Angry Hairpiece in the Lone Lake Cirque broke as a deep slab sometime in the last 24 hours (Monday, 2/22). Photo: Big Sky Ski Patrol
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The Friends of the Avalanche Center, in partnership with the City of Bozeman, put in a Beacon Park at Beall Park. It is located on the north side of the Beall building between N. Bozeman Ave. and the ice rink. Stop by with your avalanche transceiver and do a few practice rescue drills. Your partner will thank you. Photo: S. Regan
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From email: "Observed natural deep slab probably happened overnight with the strong winds... snowpack in the area was about 3-5’ deep mostly 4F with 20+cm of F depth hoar at the bottom... obviously not strong enough to support the wind-load." Photo: T Thorn
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This large hard-slab avalanche was snowmobile-triggered on Saturday (2/20). It broke nearly 10' deep and approximately 200' across. It left large chunks of debris that piled up about 8' deep at the bottom. Photo: GNFAC
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This large hard-slab avalanche was snowmobile-triggered on Saturday (2/20). It broke nearly 10' deep and approximately 200' across. Photo: GNFAC
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Snowmobile-triggered avalanche occurred on Saturday (2/20) at the entrance to McAtee Basin. It broke on a 40-45 degree slope on old snow near the ground. Photo: GNFAC
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Snowmobile-triggered avalanche occurred on Saturday (2/20) at the entrance to McAtee Basin breaking on old snow near the ground. Photo: GNFAC
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From obs: “Triggered a large slide with a snowmobile. Went all the way to the ground. Crown seemed to range anywhere from maybe 3 ft to 10 ft. Large slabs of snow broke free and slid for about 100 yards.”
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From email: "I toured into Blackmore [2/19/21] and observed an old snow avalanche at 9600' on the east face of Mt Blackmore. I was there the day before and didn't see any evidence of avalanche activity; strong overnight winds with ample snow available for transport appeared to be enough to tip the scales." Photo: T. Guarino
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From email: "I toured into Blackmore [2/19/21] and observed an old snow avalanche at 9600' on the east face of Mt Blackmore. I was there the day before and didn't see any evidence of avalanche activity; strong overnight winds with ample snow available for transport appeared to be enough to tip the scales." Photo: T. Guarino
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From e-mail: "...a photo of what appeared to be a natural D2 underneath the Maid today [2/19/21]." Photo: H. Coppolillo
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From email: "While on tour today above the canyon, we observed various snow surfaces. We found heavily windloaded slopes on E/NE aspects. Solar aspects began to develop rollers as rocks began to heat up around noon. We observed a small avalanche on E slope a drainage away, roughly 20 feet wide. While ascending a ridgeline at 7500 elevation, we had a massive woomph and crack that spread 100 feet from the ridge to a roller in the fall line." Photo: Tommy S.
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From email: "Went out in Middle Basin north of Big Sky today and saw 5 separate slides, the largest about 500ft across and approximately 2ft deep. All of them were northeast to southeast aspects from about 9200 to 9800ft. The included photos aren't the best but give an idea of the slides, most are from that largest slide." Photo: B. Richards
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From email: "Went out in Middle Basin north of Big Sky today and saw 5 separate slides, the largest about 500ft across and approximately 2ft deep. All of them were northeast to southeast aspects from about 9200 to 9800ft. The included photos aren't the best but give an idea of the slides, most are from that largest slide." Photo: B. Richards
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From email: "Went out in Middle Basin north of Big Sky today and saw 5 separate slides, the largest about 500ft across and approximately 2ft deep. All of them were northeast to southeast aspects from about 9200 to 9800ft. The included photos aren't the best but give an idea of the slides, most are from that largest slide." Photo: B Richards
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On 2/14/21 two splitboarders triggered this avalanche while skinning up the slope. One was caught, partially buried and critically injured. Photo: GNFAC
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On 2/14/21 two splitboarders triggered this avalanche while skinning up the slope. One was caught, partially buried and critically injured. Rescuers from Gallatin County/Big Sky Search and Rescue hiked in and were flown in to evacuate the injured person. Photo: B. Murry
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On 2/14/21 two splitboarders triggered this avalanche while skinning up the slope. One was caught, partially buried and critically injured. Rescuers from Gallatin County/Big Sky Search and Rescue hiked in and were flown in to evacuate the injured person. Photo: B. Murry
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On 2/14/21 two splitboarders triggered this avalanche while skinning up the slope. One was caught, partially buried and critically injured. Photo: GNFAC
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On 2/14/21 two splitboarders triggered this avalanche while skinning up the slope. One was caught, partially buried and critically injured. Photo: GNFAC
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Natural avalanche on an east aspect in Beehive Basin. Likely broke on Sunday, 2/7/2021.
Photo: J. Schack
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On Thursday, Feb 11, snowmobilers remotely triggered two large avalanche in the Portal Creek area.
From obs: "Broke on lookers right crown first then triggered second slide to lookers left (rocks everywhere). Broke on depth hoar on both slides north facing aspects. Nobody was caught."
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Snowpit Profiles- Northern Madison
Weather Stations- Northern Madison
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8800 Camera, Lone Peak view
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Weather Forecast Northern Madison
5 Miles NNW Big Sky MT
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This
AfternoonSunny
High: 32 °F
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Tonight
Partly Cloudy
Low: 20 °F
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Thursday
Sunny
High: 35 °F
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Thursday
NightMostly Clear
Low: 18 °F
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Friday
Mostly Sunny
High: 34 °F
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Friday
NightPartly Cloudy
Low: 23 °F
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Saturday
Slight Chance
SnowHigh: 34 °F
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Saturday
NightSlight Chance
Snow then
Mostly CloudyLow: 20 °F
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Sunday
Mostly Sunny
High: 30 °F
The Last Word
The video recording of Dave’s recent talk on “Rethinking Avalanche Terrain from a Strategic Perspective” is now available. It’s worth your time to watch it. There is a little something for everyone.