Photos

From email 5/16/24: "I saw the photo of the fisher peak avalanche on the website. Figured I could fill in the blanks. Not a natural slide, snowmobile triggered.

At approximately 12:15pm last Saturday I was climbing above fisher bench and unintentionally set off a slab avalanche on fisher peak. I was jumping the cornice at the ridge and had a massive slope collapse, followed by shooting cracks and propagation downslope. I was able to wheelie through the crown and sidehill above the slide away from the debris area.

5 minutes before my climb, another snowmobiler put a high mark 60 ft away from where I climbed with no results. There were numerous tracks on the slope prior to this avalanche, I found the weak spot. My riding partner was watching me from a safe zone further south, as we knew there was new snow instabilities to watch out for, at a minimum.

We rode all day Friday without any obvious instabilities on similar slopes. We didn’t see the sheep mountain slide Friday morning. I took some pictures of the slide right after it happened. See attached…"

From email 5/16/24: "I saw the photo of the fisher peak avalanche on the website. Figured I could fill in the blanks. Not a natural slide, snowmobile triggered.

At approximately 12:15pm last Saturday I was climbing above fisher bench and unintentionally set off a slab avalanche on fisher peak. I was jumping the cornice at the ridge and had a massive slope collapse, followed by shooting cracks and propagation downslope. I was able to wheelie through the crown and sidehill above the slide away from the debris area.

5 minutes before my climb, another snowmobiler put a high mark 60 ft away from where I climbed with no results. There were numerous tracks on the slope prior to this avalanche, I found the weak spot. My riding partner was watching me from a safe zone further south, as we knew there was new snow instabilities to watch out for, at a minimum.

We rode all day Friday without any obvious instabilities on similar slopes. We didn’t see the sheep mountain slide Friday morning. I took some pictures of the slide right after it happened. See attached…"

From obs 5/12/24: "Saw a few slides that look like they propagated across the layer of new snow from the last storm (as opposed to the characteristic spring wet snow point releases). The largest was the previously reported one from Sheep... We also saw a similar slide on a N/NW aspect of Mt Zimmer (pictured). Hard to say from a distance when these broke, but the one on Mt Zimmer looked the most recent." Photo: A. Kautzer

From obs 5/12/24: "Saw a few slides that look like they propagated across the layer of new snow from the last storm (as opposed to the characteristic spring wet snow point releases). The largest was the previously reported one from Sheep. On the way out we saw a smaller slide farther south along the same ridge that looked like it broke on the new snow interface, both NE aspects (pictured)." Photo: A. Kautzer

From email 5/11/24: “Hey Guys, here are a few photos from the weekend. The sheep Mountain Avalanche was Snowmobile triggered on Friday…”

From email 5/11/24: “Hey Guys, here are a few photos from the weekend. … the fisher peak avalanche happened today. Maybe cornice drop?”

From IG story 5/8/24: "@mtavalanche remote triggers today in Cooke City. 2-4' of fresh north of round lake."

On 5/4/24 Skiers triggered large wet loose slides on the Fin near Cooke City

From obs 5/2/24: "Wind load on old crust, probably from Wednesday."

From email 5/1/24: "Hi crew. I triggered a soft slab avalanche on the North side of Sheep Mountain today. D1.5 200’ wide ran 200’.  Crown was 6-12’’ deep. I was able to ride out of it and anchor in a safe spot. 

It broke on our 7th lap and we had seen no signs of instability prior to the avalanche but wind loading was occurring and obvious. The avalanche broke and on a dirty crust that formed during a rain event last week."

Photos of what appears like a wet slab possibly from Friday (4/26) when the precip. started after the first night or two of poor freeze (Henderson Bench). Photo GNFAC

Photos of what appear like wet slabs possibly from Friday (4/26) when the precip. started after the first night or two of poor freeze (North side of Republic near Cooke City). Photo GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon.

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

From IG on 04/26/2024 Photo: Beartooth Powder Guides

A skier triggered this sluff in a steep chute east of Republic Mountain. Photo: B

Skiers triggered a small sluff in steep terrain while skiing on the Fin near Republic Mountain. Photo: B. 

Riders saw this wet slab avalanche on the SE shoulder of Mount Abundance. The avalanche likely happened a few days ago during prolonged above-freezing temperatures. Photo: R.