Good Morning. This is Doug Chabot with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Tuesday, March 2, at 7:30 a.m. Jeff King at Edward Jones, in cooperation with the Friends of the Avalanche Center, sponsor today's advisory. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.
If you liked yesterday, you'll love today. We'll see sunny skies and mountain temperatures reaching the upper 30s to low 40s. High clouds roll in later and will filter the sun, but shouldn't detract from the spring conditions. Ridgetop winds are 15-25 mph out of the west-southwest and will switch more southerly tonight as the high pressure ridge gets pushed out. Clouds will increase tonight too with temperatures cooling into the low 20s.
Let's see...should I ice or rock climb, ski or road bike? With choices like these, spring is definitely knocking at our door.
The Bridger, Madison and Gallatin Ranges, the Lionhead
area near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn
Range: If you were thinking
that all the recent sunshine and warm temperatures made the avalanche danger go
away, well, think again. Yesterday, skiers sent in photos of a deep slab
avalanche from the Hyalite area (photo1, photo2, photo3)
that ran 1,200 feet. They kicked off a
large cornice which triggered the slide on facets at the ground. These facets
were formed back in early December, back when the snowpack was young and winter
was full of hope. Here we are three
months later still seeing avalanches on this layer. On Sunday, another group of skiers in the
northern Gallatin Range found weak snow 10 inches under the surface. These small grained facets were breaking
clean and easy in their stability tests (photo).
This layer is found one to two feet deep throughout southwest Montana with feathery
crystals of surface hoar thrown into the mix.
For now, these two distinct layers, one near the surface and the other
near the ground, are the main stability concerns. A few wet, loose
natural avalanches occurred on the south face of Beehive Ridge yesterday. The upper elevations warmed to near 40 degrees
with the sun climbing higher and solar radiation getting stronger by the
day. All the ski patrols, as well as a
backcountry skier near Ross Pass in the Bridger Range, found the surface snow
saturated and avalanching in point release slides on south to east facing
slopes. With today being another warm
day, wet slides will become more numerous. Even though folks are
walking around town in sandals and t-shirts, the snowpack is still stuck in
winter. Other than the top few inches of snow getting warm, the rest of the
pack is below freezing which keeps the facets preserved. Yesterday's avalanche up Hyalite could have
happened anywhere in our forecast area; the same ingredients are found in all
the ranges. For today, given the
persistent weak layers and recent avalanche activity, the avalanche danger
continues to be rated MODERATE. I will issue the next
advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. If you get out in the backcountry let us
know what you find. You can reach us at
587-6984 or email us at mtavalanche@gmail.com. Avalanche Education &
Events 1.Bozeman Join us to discuss
the snowpack, weather, and circumstances leading up to the avalanche on Saddle
Peak. We will show videos, pictures, and
share stories about this popular sidecountry destination. Cost: Free, When:
Thursday, March 4 from 6:30-7:30 p.m., Where: Bozeman Public Library meeting
room. 2. Bridger Bowl 29th Annual Pinhead Classic on Saturday, March,
6th. "Carnival" is this year's
costume theme, so come dressed up to race, socialize and win great prizes.
Registration fee is $30 but gets you all sorts of cool stuff. Check out the
website http://pinheadclassic.com for
details. 3. Moonlight Basin Comprehensive
avalanche awareness class - Thursday, March 4th to Saturday, March 6th events@moonlight.com or 406-993-6026 4. Bell Lake Yurt, Tobacco Root Mountains Montana
Backcountry Adventures - Comprehensive avalanche awareness class Wednesday,
March 12th to Friday, March 14th For more
info call 995-3880 or go to www.skimba.com
