Good Afternoon. This is Alex Marienthal with pre-season avalanche, weather, and event information for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center on Friday, October 12th. This bulletin is sponsored by The Friends of the Avalanche Center and sponsors of the Powder Blast event on October 26th. Get Tickets Here.
Cold and unsettled weather over the past week delivered fresh snow to the mountains. Since Saturday the Bridger Range and mountains near Big Sky got 7-11” of snow, and near Cooke City and West Yellowstone got 5”. Wind was easterly at 5-15 mph the first half of the week, and shifted yesterday to west-southwest at 15-25 mph. Temperatures this weekend will be teens to highs 20s F. Snow on Saturday will drop 2-3” in the mountains with 5-7” possible south of Bozeman and near Cooke City. High pressure from Sunday through next week will bring mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 40s to 50s F.
Our weather and avalanche log and 24-hour weather on the regional pages will be updated daily.
The mountains are blanketed in white and some folks are out searching for turns. A few more inches of snow this weekend will improve conditions, but snow isn’t deeper than one or two feet in most locations. If it is deep enough to make turns then there is enough snow to avalanche. Avalanches have caught and injured skiers, hunters, and climbers during the early-season before. Travel and prepare for avalanches like you would in the middle of winter.
- Equip yourself with all the tools you normally travel with mid-winter: beacon, shovel and probe at a minimum. Helmets are a good idea with thin coverage in runout zones.
- Avoid steep slopes with thick drifts of snow. These slopes are the most inviting because they have full coverage for skiing, but they are also the likeliest area to trigger a slide.
- Travel one at a time in avalanche terrain.
- Small avalanches can be season-ending affairs at best and deadly at their worst. Be careful of getting swept into rocks or buried deeply in gullies or carried off cliffs. All of these have occurred early season in Montana.
- Cracking and collapsing of the snow is bulls-eye information that the snow is unstable. The snowpack is usually the most unstable during and immediately after new snow and wind.
Here are a couple things you can do to prepare yourself for a safe winter in the backcountry. Read this accident report from October 2012 in the northern Bridger Range, and plan to attend one of our avalanche education courses listed HERE.
We are preparing for winter, scheduling avalanche classes, and setting up weather stations. If you get outside send us an observation via our website, email (mtavalanche@gmail.com), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).
Powder Blast Fund-Raiser
Powder Blast
Friday, October 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the Emerson Cultural Center. Tickets Here.
Grizzly Outfitters of Big Sky is title sponsor of this year's 20th Annual Powder Blast. Mystery Ranch, World Boards, Community Food Co-op, Highline Partners and Spark R&D are key sponsors along with Alpine Orthopedics, Stronghold Fabrication, Werner Wealth Management, Scott Lawson Dentistry, and Knoff Group Real Estate. Additional support comes from Javaman, Edward Jones, Massive Design, Bountiful Table and Katabatic Brewing.
Beer from Katabatic Brewery and Wine from Montana Ale Works
Dinner by Bountiful Table
Music by Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs and the best silent auction of outdoor gear in the valley!
Upcoming Avalanche Education and Events
Our education calendar is full of awareness lectures and field courses. Check it out.
To prepare yourself for a safe winter in the backcountry you can read this accident report from October 2012 in the northern Bridger Range, and plan to attend one of our avalanche education courses listed HERE.