Photos

This skier triggered avalanche occurred on Mt Ellis in the northern Gallatin Range on Christmas day. The snowpack was about 3 feet deep at the crown and it broke on facets about 1 foot above the ground. It is a NE facing slope around 8400 feet.

From the photographer, "I observed one very large slide that broke 3-5 (or more) feet deep near the ground, around 2,500'+ wide, and ran nearly full track.  Clearly not the sort of thing that you want to get on the wrong end of.  The slide started around 3/4 of a mile south of Saddle and continued up to the south flank of the peak." The slide likely ran on Sunday night or Monday (12/22 or 23).  Photo: B. VandenBos

This photo was taken yesterday (12/24) up Hyalite.  The east face of Elephant Mountain had many natural avalanches which occurred during the Avalanche Warning.  Photo: C. Corey

This picture is from Divide Peak up Hyalite.  Eric investigated this large natural avalanche that broke the morniung of December 23. Photo: B. VandenBos

This natural avalanche occurred south of Divide Peak in the northern Gallatin Range. Nearly two feet of new snow and heavy wind loading caused this slope to fail. This area likely had a shallow snowpack during the early December cold snap that created a well developed layer of facets. Photo GNFAC

This natural avalanche occurred on a north/northeast facing slope around 9,300 ft. The slide failed on a layer of facets about a foot off the ground. Nearly two feet of new snow combined with recent wind loading pushed this slope past its breaking point. Photo GNFAC

This photo of the east side of Bridger Peak was taken from the road.  It has snowed about 2 feet in the past few days, yet this large area is stripped of snow. Where it went is anybody's guess (I'm betting dowhill), but it most certainly added even more snow to other slopes further increasing the avalanche potential. New snow + winds + weak snowpack = avalanches. Photo: GNFAC

This slide was triggered remotely where the red X is located on the right side of the photo about 100 feet away from the avalanche. It occurred on a ENE facing slope above Fairy Lake at 8200 ft. Photo: GNFAC

This very large slide was spotted near Hyalite Peak in the northern Gallatin Range on an east facing slope. The crown of the avalanche is hard to seen unless you zoom into the photo and look closely, but it broke across the entire face with the red line. Avalanches fracturing over such long distances are a major warning sign of unstable conditions. Photo: B. VandenBos

I kicked off a decent sized cornice on the Beehive Bear Basin Ridge.  I was glad to see that it did not propagate, which matched my stability tests. It ran a ways downhill because the snowpack was all facets and they just flowed like sand chunks down the hill. Photo: GNFAC

This avalanche on Baldy occurred a few days ago, but illustrates the unstable conditions on slopes with a wind-load.  Photo: B. VandenBos

A snowboarder took this picture yesterday (12/17) of a natural avalanche on an east aspect of Divide Peak up Hyalite Canyon.  This areas has poor snow structure and wind-loaded slopes are especially dangerous.  Photo: N. Stayner

Up in Hyalite the snow is still unstable. This slab was released remotely from 500 feet away. Other avalanches, some far away, also released with this avalanche. Photo: B. VanDenBos

A skier saw this avalanche yesterday on Divide Peak up Hyalite in the Northern Gallatin Range. Weak snow is still struggling to hold wind slabs  at many elevations. Photo B. VanDenBos

Skiers found a poor snowpack structure and experienced shooting cracks up Lick Creek in the northern Gallatin Range. This is an obvious sign the snowpack is unstable. Photo Chris Bilbrey

This avalanche occurred in the Bridger Range just north of Ross Peak. The slide was remotely triggered from low on the slope. Fortunately nobody was caught. Photo Adam Kehoe 

This avalanche was triggered by two snowmobilers riding in the flats below this slope. The avalanche debris covered their tracks. Avalanches triggered from the flats are a sign of very unstable conditions. Photo: GNFAC

This skier triggerd avalanche occurred on the Throne in the northern Bridgers. The slide failed on a layer of facets 30 cm's off the ground, producing a cronw 1.5 to 4 deep. Fortunately the skier escaped unharmed. Photo CBZ 

This skier triggerd avalanche occurred on the Throne in the northern Bridgers. The slide broke on a layer of facets 30 cm's off the ground, producing a crown 1.5 to 4 feet deep. Fortunately the skier escaped unharmed. Photo CBZ