Photos

The wind texture across the south face of Mt. Blackmore is evidence if wind-loading. The 8" of new snow drifted into small slabs near the ridgelines that were reactive to ski cuts. Photo: G. Antonioli

A skier outside of Cooke City observed this natural avalanche on a NW facing slope around 9,200 ft. By the looks of it, this slide appears to be a wet slab that failed during the period of above freezing temps and rain a few days ago. While the snowpack is mostly stable around Cooke City, this slide is a good reminder that isolated instabilities still exist. Photo: B. Fredlund  

The lack of freezing temperatures created wet slides in Beehive Basin. These slides occurred on a west facing slope around 8,500 ft. Photo S. Knowles  

We were finding 4 feet of snow on E and S facing slopes and 6 feet on north facing. All pits showed stability and we only saw one small cornice triggered slide all day. In this pit Eric found a few ice crusts (south facing slope), but no breaks in tests. We had no other signs of instability and we skied the slope. Photo: GNFAC

High elevation slopes that were heavily wind-loaded (N-E) avalanched with explosives during control work. Crowns were near 3 feet deep and the slides broke at the ground. Photo: BSSP

Gusty, intermittent winds from the SW blew in Hyalite yesterday and formed windslabs of variable thickness. These small, stiff, slabs were reactive to ski cuts. Photo: G. Antonioli

Cornices have grown large along ridgelines and could be easy to trigger. Stay far back from the edge and avoid or minimize time on slopes below. Slopes below cornices are likely places to trigger a wind slab avalanche. Photo: B. VandenBos

Cornices have grown large along ridgelines. Stay far back from the edge and avoid or minimize time on slopes below. Slopes below cornices are likely places to trigger a wind slab avalanche. Photo: B. VandenBos 

Debris from a natural avalanche on the east side of Mt. Abundance near Cooke City. Snowmobilers nearby heard this slide, and found that it covered their tracks from earlier. A foot to two of new snow and strong wind created very unstable conditions on Friday (11/17).

Cornices in Beehive basin were growing in size and sensitivity throughout the day. This cornice failed naturally which triggered as small wind slab on the slope below. With more snow and wind in the forecast, cornices and wind slabs will remain an ongoing problem. Photo: G. Antonioli 

Strong winds on Thursday (11/16) were blowing new snow and forming wind slabs in Beehive Basin. Photo: G. Antonioli

In this pit we had multiple layers propagate in our stability tests. Two wind slabs near the surface, and a thin layer of facets above the hard crust on the ground. ESE aspect at 9,000' near Fairy Lake. Photo: GNFAC

Small wind slab near fairy lake. This type of terrain, near ridgelines, is where you can expect to find unstable snow. Though small, a slide like this could be deadly in the wrong place. Photo: GNFAC

Large plumes of snow blowing off the summit of Mt Blackmore were visible from town today. This is bull's eye information that wind slabs will be a growing problem. Approach all wind slopes with caution pay attention to changing conditions. Photo: A Worthington 

This natural avalanche on Crown Butte happened November 8, but this photo shows that it was deep! Photo: J. Dobranyi

Skiers at Bridger Bowl noted that above the base of Alpine and Powder Park lifts, there was surface hoar covering just about everything that hadn't been groomed. Photo: S. Ranney

Feathery crystals of surface hoar were seen near Palisades Falls in Hyalite. This is not widespread or a current concern, but there's nothing more beautiful than a crisp picture of surface hoar. Photo: M. Santana

This avalanche was seen today by a skier. The vicinity of the crown is marked. Photo: B. Fredlund.

This natural avalanche occurred yesterday (Wed, Nov 8) on the north aspect of Crown Butte outside Cooke City. The crown of the avalanche is marked. Photo: Cooke City Motorsports

Surface hoar and near surface facets (weak layers) are forming in the Bridger Range, and probably other ranges, during cold temperatures and clear nights. Photo: GNFAC