Photos

This pit was dug on a northwest facing slope at 8,750' in Lionhead.  A dense, six foot thick pencil hardness slab is being supported by fist hardness depth hoar.  I scooped out some in my hand. The column broke on this layer and I was able to lay the pillar, intact, outside the snowpit. The deeper the depth hoar gets buried, the more difficult it becomes to trigger. But if you get unlucky and trigger it the avalanche will be large, destructive and deadly.  Photo: GNFAC

An air blast produced a climax avalanche in the Pinnacles ski run yesterday morning (3/27). It ran just under 600’,  piled debris 15’ deep, and tore out several hundred feet of avalanche sign line and several 6” diameter trees. This run just gets a little more sun than the other ridge top runs. Photo: T. Leonard

This wet slab avalanche was triggered by a ski patroller kicking a wet loose avalanche that stepped down to the ground.  The debris is still flowing in the photograph and will join the other debris from Slushman's gully. Photo: P. Carse

This picture was snapped as Morning Glory was avalanching. The crown is four feet deep. Photo: L. Watson

These paths are one big avalanche that were triggered from the upper right of the photo with one shot.  Photo: GNFAC

This avalanche was triggered with explosives by the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol.  In the foreground is the Bridger Chairlift.  This avalanche is a major warning sign that conditions in the backcountry are unstable.  Photo: GNFAC

This avalanche was triggered with explosives by the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol.  It is a major warning sign that conditions in the backcountry are unstable. Photo: N. Helbig

This avalanche was triggered with explosives by the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol.  This avalanche is a major warning that conditions in the backcountry are unstable.  Photo: S. Schmidt

The pic shows the slide on Cedar that was observed yesterday (3/25).  The slide on the right occurred about a week ago and the bed surface has had more time to melt out.  The one on the left occurred supposedly sometime yesterday morning. Photo: C, Babineau-Z

 This avalanche likely occured on midday Saturday (3/23) on a north facing slope off Miller Ridge at 8,500'. Photo: A. Steckmest

These wet slab avalanches broke today (Mon, 3/23) during the warm, well-above freezing temperatures.  The avalanche on the left broke above the slide that was triggered by a snowmobiler on Friday.  Weak snow at the ground quickly becomes unstable when water hits it. Photo: GNFAC

This avalanche released naturally outside Bridger Bowl's boundary.  Above freezing temperatures allowed water to percolate down to the weak facets at the ground where the avalanche released from. Photo: GNFAC

This wet slab avalanche released naturally at 1145 am.  Two days without freezing temperatures and sunny, warm weather today weakened the snowpack considerably.  Note the large crack to the right of the avalanche.  This is something we do not usually see.  Photo: S. Schmidt

 Strong solar input and warm temperatures were producing natural slides in the northern Madison Range.  This slide occurred in the A-Z chutes at Big Sky.  Other wet loose and wet slab avalanches were observed in the area.  Photo Chelan Babineau-Z

 This large natural slide was part of the massive avalanche cycle that took place last week.  The crown of this slide is over a mile long and averages 3-4 feet deep.  Photo Jeff Watt

 The debris pile is the result of a wet slab that released naturally on the west side of the Bridgers.  Photo Alex Merienthal