Photos

Displaying page 27 of photos 521 - 540 of 629
Northern Madison, 2019-12-09

Riders reported multiple natural slab avalanches on N facing slopes. Photo: R. Rustigian

Link to Avalanche Details
Northern Madison, 2019-12-09

Riders reported multiple natural slab avalanches on N facing slopes. Note widespread crowns along slope in background. Photo: R. Rustigian

Link to Avalanche Details
Cooke City, 2019-12-08

A snowmobiler triggered an avalanche (yellow pin) north of Crown Butte (the gray mountain at the top of the image). This zone is typically approached from Lulu Pass. His sled was partially buried, but the rider was not. Lots of new snow in the last 24 hours created a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger.

Link to Avalanche Details
Cooke City, 2019-12-08

This natural avalanche on the northeast side of Crown Butte near Daisy Pass (Cooke City) almost caught people below. Approximately 2 feet of snow has fallen with wind and the avalanche danger is rated CONSIDERABLE. Photo: B. Whittle

Link to Avalanche Details
Northern Madison, 2019-12-08

From obs.: "Dug a pit just over the ridge from Beehive Basin into Middle Basin on a part of the slope that was less wind-affected than the rest. Performed an ECT and got a result of ECTP-24. The failure occurred on what appeared to be the same layer that was observed at Buck Ridge earlier this week - a thin layer of facets underneath a fairly solid crust (found approximately 30 cm from the surface). Given this observation, we decided to take it easy and ski some low angle meadows down into bear basin." Photo: E. Telford

Lionhead Range, 2019-12-07

Photo taken 12/6 near Two Top, south of West Yellowstone.

From email: "South facing stuff was thinner than I expected and north and west facing was a lot better than I expected. South facing stuff was 59cm deep and we had multiple ECT-P 14’s between the facets at the bottom and the newer snow."

Photo: B. Radecky

Bridger Range, 2019-12-05

We went to look at the snowpack on Saddle Peak in the backcountry south of Bridger Bowl (12/5/19). Heavily wind loaded slopes have hard slabs over weak facets. Unfortunately this poor snowpack structure will be with us for a while in the backcountry. It will not get compacted by skier traffic or show obvious signs of instability. SKi patrol triggered this slide just inside their boundary. This is the first time they have done control this season, so it is a glimpse of what we might find in the uncontrolled backcountry snowpack. Photo: GNFAC

Northern Madison, 2019-12-04

We sledded into Buck Ridge (12/4/2019) for the first time this season. The riding was supportable and soft, but we sank to the ground when we stepped off our sleds. This poor snowpack structure makes avalanches possible to trigger, and will create bad avalanche conditions when more snow loads on top. Enjoy the powder in low angle terrain. Photo: GNFAC

Southern Madison, 2019-12-04

This is a close-up of the angular Depth Hoar grains found near the ground in the mountains south of Big Sky to West Yellowstone. These are weak and cannot support a lot of snow weight. Avalanches will break near the ground on these. Photo: GNFAC

Southern Madison, 2019-12-04

At the bottom of the snowpack is a thick layer of weak and sugary, faceted snow called Depth Hoar. These large grains do not bond well and form an unstable foundation of the snowpack. Avalanches will break at this layer. Photo: GNFAC

Bridger Range, 2019-12-03
The Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol triggered this slide on a heavily wind-loaded east facing slope at the ridgeline. They wrote, "With a shovel push the vertical cornice/pillow broke 15''-36'' deep on a steep and rounded bulge just south of Lee's Leap running on the crust. The debris terminated well below Pat's Chute." Its code is HS-AC-R2-D2-O-TR. Photo: BBSP Link to Avalanche Details
Bridger Range, 2019-12-03

This large avalanche was triggered intentionally by the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol at the ridgeline above little Slushman's Ravine. They were cutting a cornice and it broke 7 feet back from the edge, 4 feet deep and 150 feet wide. It was a hard slab avalanche and ran 1150 feet. It was east facing and broke on a crust formed in the early season. It's code is HS-AC-R2-D3-O-TL. Photo: BBSP

Link to Avalanche Details
Southern Madison, 2019-12-03

We put up the Taylor Fork weather station today (12/03) and it is churning out hourly data. Check it out here: https://www.mtavalanche.com/weather/stations/taylor-fork

Southern Madison, 2019-12-03

We partnered with the Gallatin Valley Snowmobile Association to put in two new beacon checkers at the Taylor Fork and Buck Ridge trailheads. They are working great!

Thanks GVSA! Photo: GNFAC

Bridger Range, 2019-12-03

We recognize that backcountry skiing can be daunting to approach. That’s why Ben Goertzen and the Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center have teamed up to help breakdown some of the most prominent barriers of entry to backcountry skiing through this campaign. One lucky winner will be given a complete backcountry skiing kit, a spot in an avalanche awareness course, and featured in a three part video series that ends with an excursion into the backcountry with professional skier and filmmaker, Ben Goertzen . These videos will be used by the Friends of GNFAC to help other aspiring backcountry skiers gain awareness, knowledge and start to breakdown their barriers to entry.

Click Here for More Details on How to Enter

Watch the Backcountry Barriers Launch Video: https://vimeo.com/376473804

Bridger Range, 2019-12-02

We skied in the northern Bridgers (12/2/19), and an unstable test result (ECTP14) prompted us to adjust our travel plans. In the mountains around Bozeman and Big Sky the snowpack is generally stable, and will get more stable without snow the next few days, but it is just as important as ever to carefully assess stability of each slope, each day you plan to ride in avalanche terrain. East aspect. 8,100' elev. Photo: GNFAC 

Northern Gallatin, 2019-12-01

This avalanche of wind-drifted snow was triggered with a ski cut on a southeast aspect at 9,800'. Photo: T. Chingas

Link to Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin, 2019-12-01

This slide was triggered up Hyalite from 100' away. It was a wind loaded slope at 9,000', northeast aspect. Photo: T. Chingas

Link to Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin, 2019-12-01

From an observation:

When approaching the base of Mt. Blackmore this morning at roughly 8:45am we observed strong swirling winds at higher elevations (summit of Blackmore and the Elephant/Blackmore Saddle). The winds we observed were primarily loading snow onto E and SE facing aspects. Furthermore, we witnessed four naturally triggered avalanches over a twenty minute span. All slides appeared to be D1/D2 on E and SE aspects and, seemingly, restricted to the newly loaded snow. Photo: SAM

Link to Avalanche Details
Northern Gallatin, 2019-12-01

From an observation:

When approaching the base of Mt. Blackmore this morning at roughly 8:45 am we observed strong swirling winds at higher elevations (summit of Blackmore and the Elephant/Blackmore Saddle). The winds we observed were primarily loading snow onto E and SE facing aspects. Furthermore, we witnessed four naturally triggered avalanches over a twenty minute span. All slides appeared to be D1/D2 on E and SE aspects and, seemingly, restricted to the newly loaded snow. Photo: SAM

Link to Avalanche Details