Photos

Avalanches on east facing wind loaded slopes from 1/12 and 1/13. Photo: B. Zavora

Avalanche in Pebble Creek west of Cooke City. Looks to have been triggered by a Mtn. Goat over the weekend. Areas with a relatively shallow snowpack (3-5') have weaker snow and avalanches are easier to trigger on non-wind loaded and wind loaded slopes. Photo: B. Fredlund

This avalanche broke on a wind loaded slope on Saturday 1/13, after heavy snowfall and strong wind. Photo: E. Schock

Triggered by snowmobiler on 1/14. One other slide was observed nearby. Very dangerous, unstable avalanche conditions exist in the Lionead area and surrounding mountains. Photo: L. Read

This snowpit was dug near Lulu Pass on a NE aspect at 9700'. A very thin layer of surface hoar was detected in my stabiility tests. Although this layer did not propagate here (ECTN 23 and 25), I think it would if it had a larger load on it. This may be the layer that released on the Fin 2 days ago. Photo: GNFAC

These small surface hoar crystals are buried 55cm deep on a NE facing slope at 9700'. The layer is thin and undetectable to the eye. They were found during compression tests. Although this layer did not propagate in my snowpit (ECTN 25 and 23), with a wind-load they might. Photo: GNFAC

This wind-loaded slope near Lulu Pass released last night. The crown is marked. New snow and wind in the past days created some isolated instability at the higher elevations. Photo: GNFAC

We dug a snowpit at 9700' on a SW aspect. We did not get any breaks in our tests (ECTX x2) and had no collapsing or cracking. Photo: GNFAC

Natural avalanche on northerly wind loaded slope near Divide Peak in Hyalite. Photo: C. Forsman

This 2-4' deep slide was triggered by snowmobilers from lower angle terrain within the trees below the slope (1/13/18). Photo: L. Read

Natural avalanche on the Fin near Cooke City. Likely ran Friday morning (1/12/18). This area had 2-3 feet of dense snow since Wednesday morning. Multiple shallower crowns are visible as well. Photo: C. Porter

Natural avalanche on the Fin near Cooke City. Likely ran Friday morning (1/12/18). This area had 2-3 feet of dense snow since Wednesday morning. Multiple shallower crowns are visible as well. Photo: B. Fredlund

Natural avalanche on the Fin near Cooke City. Likely ran Friday morning (1/12/18). This area had 2-3 feet of dense snow since Wednesday morning. Photo: S. Barrier

This slide was triggered by skiers from flat terrain 200' away (1/12/18). They felt the ground shake and heard a "whumph". The slide was on an east aspect, about 100' wide and ran 1000'+. This is in an area with a relatively shallow and weak snowpack. This type of instability is not widespread, but possible to encounter on specific terrain, such as lower elevations or areas with a snowpack around 3-5' deep, which is relatively shallow for our advisory area right now. Photo: S. Budac

New snow and strong winds created unstable conditions in the Bridger Range yesterday. This natural slide occurred on Saddle Peak just south of Bridger Bowl. Larger naturals were observed south of Saddle in Argentina bowl. Photo: BBSP

From an email today: "I’ve never observed so much cracking and settling as I have today. All aspects, all elevations. Even on southerly exposures with minimal snow depth. The picture shows failure on top of the Thanksgiving crust. This was in West Fork Denny Creek about 7500 feet." Photo: B. Rasmussen

Debris pile of avalanche that buried and killed a rider on January 10. Photo: J. O'Neill

Close up view of crowns of avalanche that buried and killed a rider on January 10. Photo: J. O'Neill

View of the starting zone and crown of the avalanche that buried and killed a rider on January 10. Photo: J. O'Neill

King and Queen of the Ridge, Saturday, February 3^rd. A Hike and Ski/Ride-a-Thon fundraising event to support the Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. Sign up and start collecting pledges HERE.