Trip Planning for Northern Gallatin

as of 5:00 am
Today3″ | 10-15 W
Mar 30 2″ | 15-23 SW
Mar 29 2″ | 15-28 SW
9980′     03/31 at 11:00
15.2℉
W - 11mph
Gusts 20mph
8100′     03/31 at 11:00
28℉
Depth
Bottom Line: Avalanches in the upper snowpack can be triggered beneath the snow that fell over the last week, particularly where it’s been more recently drifted by the wind. A harder to identify, but scarier possibility is triggering a deep slab avalanche.You’d have to get unlucky to trigger one of these slides today, but if you do, the consequences could be huge. Avalanches in the newer snow could also step down and trigger a deeper slide.
Primary Problem: Persistent Weak Layer

Past 5 Days

Mon Mar 27

Considerable
Tue Mar 28

Moderate
Wed Mar 29

Considerable
Thu Mar 30

Moderate
Today

Moderate

Relevant Avalanche Activity

Northern Gallatin
Hyalite - main fork
Natural avalanches in Hyalite
Hyalite - main fork
Coordinates: 45.4472, -110.9620
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

On my walk up to divide today 3/28 I noticed a few small storm slabs that broke on the west side of the main fork of hyalite off the summer trail.  This area had similar storm slabs that broke back in mid February during a large storm 

up in the alpine there were no avalanches to report 


More Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin
Portal Creek
New snow avalanches at Portal Crk
Incident details include images
Portal Creek
SS-N-R2-D2-S
Coordinates: 45.2890, -111.1410
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

Saw a couple small natural slides breaking in the new snow. The one on the small slope beside the road actually appeared to have broken when a snow bike crossed the top just off the side of the road. The other was natural and occurred in the afternoon sometime 


More Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin
Mt Ellis
Small skier triggered slide near Little Ellis, partial buried
Incident details include images
Mt Ellis
SS-AS-R3-D2-I
Elevation: 7,500
Aspect: E
Coordinates: 45.5971, -110.9610
Caught: 1 ; Buried: 1

Came across debris of a recent skier-triggered slide near the top of Little Ellis in a small, protected, eastern facing gully around 7,500'. Crown was ~3.5-1.5' deep, ~35' wide and it ran ~150'. Ski tracks were observed near the top of the crown and next to a small hole near the surface ~70' from the crown where it looks like someone self extracted. No signal was found with a beacon search and my group felt that the one track from the hole must have been from the same skier as the track near the crown. 

There was around 2-3' of heavy new snow at that location.


More Avalanche Details

Relevant Photos

Displaying 1 - 40
  • From obs 3/26/23: "Saw a couple small natural slides breaking in the new snow. The one on the small slope beside the road actually appeared to have broken when a snow bike crossed the top just off the side of the road." Photo: J. Weingarten

  • From obs 3/26/23: "Saw a couple small natural slides breaking in the new snow.... occurred in the afternoon sometime" Photo: J. Weingarten

  • [On 3/25/23]: Skier reported, "Came across debris of a recent skier-triggered slide near the top of Little Ellis in a small, protected, eastern facing gully around 7,500'. Crown was ~3.5-1.5' deep, ~35' wide and it ran ~150'. Ski tracks were observed near the top of the crown and next to a small hole near the surface ~70' from the crown where it looks like someone self extracted. No signal was found with a beacon search and my group felt that the one track from the hole must have been from the same skier as the track near the crown." Photo: R. Beck

  • [On 3/25/23]: Skier reported, "Came across debris of a recent skier-triggered slide near the top of Little Ellis in a small, protected, eastern facing gully around 7,500'. Crown was ~3.5-1.5' deep, ~35' wide and it ran ~150'. Ski tracks were observed near the top of the crown and next to a small hole near the surface ~70' from the crown where it looks like someone self extracted. No signal was found with a beacon search and my group felt that the one track from the hole must have been from the same skier as the track near the crown." Photo: R. Beck

  • Photo: R. Lindsey

  • On 3/23/23 skiers in Hyalite saw this older avalanche on Alex Lowe peak. Photo: W. Casper

  • Photo of deep slab avalanche on Elephant Mtn from above. Photo: W. Casper  3/23/23

  • Saw this very large avalanche in NE face of Elephant this morning (3/23/23). Skiers left flank appears at a distance to be 8-10'. Photo: C. Babineau-Z

  • Large avalanche on Mt. Bole seen by skiers on 3/17/23.

  • We skied the ridge north of Blackmore (Tomahawk Ridge?) traveling between 6800' -9200' on SE-NE aspects.

    On the ridge above, ~9400' on a NE aspect there was a natural avalanche, maybe cornice failure, probably same timeframe as the Divide slides. ran ~600'.

    HS-N-D2-R2-O

    Photo: R. Griffiths

  • I went for a walk up to divide basin today and noticed two slides that occurred on high, steep, north facing slopes last night (Tuesday night) when the wind picked up 

  • While investigating an avalanche that failed on a weak layer of facets buried in January, we notice a new layer that we will be looking for and testing as we move forward. Photo: GNFAC

  • Investigating a recent avalanche on Hyalite Peak. Photo: GNFAC

  • On Buck Ridge today (3/5/23) we found fresh, unstable drifts. This fresh slab was 4-6" deep. Cracking like this is a sign that wind slabs will avalanche on steeper slopes. Photo: GNFAC

  • Skier triggered avalanche on Elephant Mtn. 3/4/23. SS-ASu-R2-D1.5-I

    Vertical Fall: ~700' Distance Traveled: ~1000' Aspect: 15 N Elevation of start zone: 9645'

  • Skier triggered avalanche on Elephant Mtn. 3/4/23. SS-ASu-R2-D1.5-I

    Vertical Fall: ~700' Distance Traveled: ~1000' Aspect: 15 N Elevation of start zone: 9645'

  • Skier triggered avalanche on Elephant Mtn. 3/4/23. SS-ASu-R2-D1.5-I

    Vertical Fall: ~700' Distance Traveled: ~1000' Aspect: 15 N Elevation of start zone: 9645'

  • Skier triggered deep slab avalanche on NE face of Hyalite Peak 3/4/23.

  • Skier triggered deep slab avalanche on NE face of Hyalite Peak 3/4/23.

  • Skier triggered deep slab avalanche on NE face of Hyalite Peak 3/4/23.

  • "Chunk of cornice fell off the top of Arden Peak. Notably the same aspect/elevation as the 2/27 observed natural slide on E face of Mt Bole but the cornice fall did not step down beyond the surface snow." Photo: M. Zia

  • From IG. “I spotted a large crown this morning on the E face of Bole. The crown appeared to be pretty deep, at least a few feet, and propagated quite wide. It also looked like there was a debris path coming down the apron of the E face of Hyalite peak, but I was too far away to know for sure.” N. Sramek

  • From IG: Skiers near Mt. Blackmore on 2/24 saw a large avalanche on the east side of Mt. Blackmore that appeared to have happened in the last 24 hours.

  • From email 2/24/23: "Came across this very large cornice that appeared to have broken naturally sometime in the past 24 hours. Saw a few others that had broken recently throughout our tour, but none as large as this." E. Heiman

  • Low winds/no snow transport when I was up there and the east face had little to no wind effect, probably 16-18in new snow. Saw this slide with about a 8-12in crown and 100ft wide on the north face, didn’t see any other activity aside from some small point releases on really steep east aspects.

    From another party: Saw a sizable avalanche on the north east face of Blackmore, likely broke mid storm and was partly filled in already - estimated 20" deep, 100' wide. Had shooting cracks and collapsing while ascending northeast ridge. Hand pits showed planar results on an 8" harder slab beneath all the blower on top. 

  • We observed a few small crowns on steeper road cuts in Sourdough today, NW and W aspects. 4-8" at crown, 20-40' wide, ~10' vertical. They looked like storm slabs that had run overnight, maybe on a density change in the storm snow. Debris piles were small and covered with 2-3" of new snow. Low consequence, but maybe enough to surprise a kid or a dog. Photos were taken shortly above the 2 mile marker.

  • Was about 80% of the way up to the top of the middle meadow on history rock this morning when we remotely triggered a small avalanche from the skin track.  Slide was just new snow that had fallen within prior 24hrs.  Crown of about 8 inches, 20ish feet wide by 20 feet long.  Face that slid was east facing.  We took this as a sign to reconsider skiing something even as low key as history rock and decided to ski the skin track back.

    [Dropped the pin for this observation exactly where I believe the observation to have occurred.  Took an OnX waypoint while out there to help too.]

  • Went for a ski up the Flanders drainage in Hyalite today. The day was punctuated by light winds and heavy snowfall.

     

    On the skin in, we noted numerous D1 storm slab avalanches about 15cm down in the new snow on many aspects and elevations. Approaching a ridgeline, we experienced a shooting crack that propagated a very small slide in slightly wind affected snow. We dug an ECT on a SE facing aspect at 9000ft. We were unable to get propagation. Snow totals appeared to be higher than forecasted, with 60cm of new snow as of about 12:30. By the time we ripped skins, the area had received an additional 10cm of snow, putting totals around 60-70cm of low density snow on top of a stout melt freeze crust on the aspect we were skiing.
     

    we did not observe any cracking collapsing or wumphing in buried weak layers, nor signs of avalanches on those layers. The new snow had very low SWE.

  • I sunk to the ground on Mt Ellis when I stepped out of my skis. A poor, unsupportable structure is not everywhere, but it certainly was on the ridge. Photo: GNFAC

  • "Found widespread surface hoar up storm castle creek on all sheltered slopes above 7500’." Photo: JR Mooney 

  • 2/11/23: "..we noticed a few old crowns that released before the most recent snow, hard to say if they were natural or not. We also observed a most likely remote triggered small wind slab (not our tracks next to it). Solar aspects were hot. Top of snowpack was relatively stable in our 4 foot pit, some collapse but no propagation (E aspect, 8400 feet). " Photo: Tommy S.

  • Karl Birkeland got an ECTP9 under a wind slab on the Throne. We could feel the hard slab and softer, weaker snow under it with our ski pole. Photo: GNFAC

  • We founds areas that were scoured to the dirt and adjacent areas loaded from the wind. The evidence of strong wind was everywhere. Photo: GNFAC

  • At the ridgetop of the Throne we found deep wind slabs that had cracked naturally; a sign of instability. Photo: GNFAC

  • From obs. 2/11/23: "...Also of note, as we traversed a corniced ridge later in the day, two of our group members simultaneously came too close to the edge of a cornice and it broke away, but did not fall down the slope. Fortunately, everyone was alright, but it was a close call..." Photo: E. Heiman

  • From obs. 2/11/23: "...Also of note, as we traversed a corniced ridge later in the day, two of our group members simultaneously came too close to the edge of a cornice and it broke away, but did not fall down the slope. Fortunately, everyone was alright, but it was a close call..." Photo: E. Heiman

  • Me and a buddy were out skiing/camping in the Hyalite Lake area. Late Saturday afternoon we started skinning up towards Hyalite Peak. The path up to the ridge was super hardpacked and windswept. We got up and there was quite a bit of snow loaded above the north slope. I dropped over the side and took about two turns before the entire face above me released from the very top and traveled down the entire north side down to the bowl below. I was able to get to the rocks on the side and my partner was able to pick his way down. The crown looked a few feet deep from what I could see and stretched across the entire top of the line.

  • Me and a buddy were out skiing/camping in the Hyalite Lake area. Late Saturday afternoon we started skinning up towards Hyalite Peak. The path up to the ridge was super hardpacked and windswept. We got up and there was quite a bit of snow loaded above the north slope. I dropped over the side and took about two turns before the entire face above me released from the very top and traveled down the entire north side down to the bowl below. I was able to get to the rocks on the side and my partner was able to pick his way down. The crown looked a few feet deep from what I could see and stretched across the entire top of the line.

  • Me and a buddy were out skiing/camping in the Hyalite Lake area. Late Saturday afternoon we started skinning up towards Hyalite Peak. The path up to the ridge was super hardpacked and windswept. We got up and there was quite a bit of snow loaded above the north slope. I dropped over the side and took about two turns before the entire face above me released from the very top and traveled down the entire north side down to the bowl below. I was able to get to the rocks on the side and my partner was able to pick his way down. The crown looked a few feet deep from what I could see and stretched across the entire top of the line.

  • A snowboarder noticed several small slides on the east-facing walls of the Main Fork of Hyalite Creek and a small slab avalanche in the back of the Divide Peak basin. This slide is in an area locally known as Candy land/ ice farm

Videos- Northern Gallatin

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 April 1, 06:00am until April 2, 12:00amClick here for hazard details and duration Winter Weather Advisory
  • This
    Afternoon

    This Afternoon: A slight chance of snow before 2pm, then a slight chance of snow after 5pm.  Partly sunny, with a high near 29. West wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 20%.

    Slight Chance
    Snow

    High: 29 °F

  • Tonight

    Tonight: A 30 percent chance of snow before 7pm.  Patchy blowing snow after midnight. Increasing clouds, with a low around 20. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph.  New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    Chance Snow
    and Patchy
    Blowing Snow

    Low: 20 °F

  • Saturday

    Saturday: Snow, mainly after noon.  Patchy blowing snow after 9am. High near 30. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 18 to 23 mph increasing to 24 to 29 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

    Snow and
    Patchy
    Blowing Snow

    High: 30 °F

  • Saturday
    Night

    Saturday Night: Snow, mainly before midnight.  Widespread blowing snow, mainly between 9pm and midnight. Low around 13. Wind chill values as low as -5. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 20 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

    Snow and
    Blowing Snow

    Low: 13 °F

  • Sunday

    Sunday: Snow likely, mainly after noon.  Patchy blowing snow before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 22. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 22 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

    Snow Likely
    and Patchy
    Blowing Snow

    High: 22 °F

  • Sunday
    Night

    Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly before midnight.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11. West wind 16 to 21 mph becoming south southwest 7 to 12 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph.  New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    Chance Snow

    Low: 11 °F

  • Monday

    Monday: Snow likely, mainly after noon.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 22. Southwest wind 6 to 14 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

    Chance Snow
    then Snow
    Likely

    High: 22 °F

  • Monday
    Night

    Monday Night: Snow likely.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. North northeast wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

    Snow Likely

    Low: 14 °F

  • Tuesday

    Tuesday: Snow likely.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 18.

    Snow Likely

    High: 18 °F

The Last Word

Avalanches have killed 23 people in the United States so far this season. On Monday, March 27th, a snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in Utah. This was the tenth fatality in March. 


More info on each event is available at the Avalanche.org Accidents Page.

 

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