21-22

<p>Since Friday morning the mountains near Cooke City got nearly 2.5 feet of snow (2.8” of <strong><a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/null/?cid=nrcseprd1314… water equivalent</a></strong>) along with strong southerly winds. Dangerous avalanche conditions exist, and human triggered avalanches are likely on steep slopes. Snow and strong wind ended yesterday. Natural avalanches are less likely, but possible on slopes that continue to get wind-loaded today. Yesterday we received reports of a couple natural avalanches that broke on wind-loaded slopes during the storm (<strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/22/natural-near-lulu-pass-north-scot…;, <strong><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/22/natural-avalanche-republic-crk">p…;). On Friday a rider triggered a 2 ft deep slide that broke 100 ft wide while digging out his stuck sled, thankfully he is okay (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/25432"><strong>details</strong></a&gt;). Today avalanches can be triggered 2-3 feet deep in the recent snow, and it remains possible to trigger a much larger avalanche that breaks on weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack. The snowpack needs more time to adjust to the recent heavy storm. Avoid travel on and underneath slopes steeper than 30 degrees. Today the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE.</p>

<p>Strong wind over the last week drifted new snow into slabs that can avalanche under the weight of a skier of rider. Avalanches can fail on a weak layer of small facets that was buried by the recent new and wind-drifted snow. Yesterday skiers in Beehive Basin and on Mt. Blackmore in Hyalite found this weak layer buried 1-2 feet down. They got unstable results in their snowpack tests and chose to ride low angle terrain. Avalanches could also break deeper in the snowpack on weak layers near the ground, particularly near West Yellowstone and in the southern Madison and southern Gallatin ranges where more snow fell last week and we saw activity on deeper layers earlier this season.</p>

<p>Careful snowpack assessment is essential before riding on steep slopes. Be cautious of fresh drifts and be certain there are no potentially unstable buried weak layers. Human triggered avalanches are possible, and the avalanche danger is MODERATE.</p>

<p>If you get out, please send us your observations no matter how brief. You can submit them via our <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_observation"><strong>website<…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong>mtavalanche@gmail.com</strong></a…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>