21-22
GNFAC Avalanche Forecast for Fri Feb 4, 2022
Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion
<p>Strong winds have blown the 10” of snow that fell Monday and Tuesday into drifts which cracked under skiers and riders yesterday. A snowboarder in Hyalite yesterday triggered a very small (6” deep) avalanche on a small slope (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/22/very-small-wind-slab"><strong><u>…;). Drifting continued yesterday and strong winds will continue drifting snow today, creating fresh unstable drifts (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/22/skin-track-filled-divide-peak"><s…;). Look for cracks shooting out in front of your skis or snowmobile as a sign that you’ve found unstable snow and should stay off steep slopes. The new snow fell onto a weak snow surface. Quickly dig 1-2ft deep to check for unstable weak layers in the upper snowpack. The avalanche danger is MODERATE on wind-loaded slopes. On non-windloaded, the new snow is not deep or cohesive enough for large avalanches and the danger is LOW.</p>
<p>In the mountains around West Yellowstone and Cooke City less snow fell earlier in the week (5-6”) and winds have been slightly lighter. Any wind-drifted slabs will generally be small and harmless outside of the steepest and most exposed terrain. Yesterday, Alex and I found stable conditions in Teepee Basin (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDCtE01l--U"><strong><u>video</u></stro…;) and Doug found the same at Bacon Rind (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOQk9OlNgNw"><strong><u>video</u></stro…;). An avalanche on Wednesday outside Cooke City that broke a foot deep in a steep gully, carrying a skier 600 ft and partially burying them with their head under the snow is a reminder to keep your guard up even during low danger (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/25697"><strong><u>details and photo</u></strong></a>). If you find an isolated area with more than a few inches of drifted snow, carefully evaluate the snowpack before committing to steep terrain. Weak layers near the surface remain on our list of concerns for when it snows again. For today, the avalanche danger is rated LOW because large avalanches are unlikely (but not entirely impossible).</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><u>websi…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong><u>mtavalanche@gmail.com</u></str…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>
THIS SATURDAY: KING AND QUEEN OF THE RIDGE
Do you like to hike? Do you like to ski? Then the King & Queen of the Ridge is for you. Hike, ski and raise money for the Friends of the Avalanche Center in their 2nd biggest fundraiser of the year. Join the effort to promote and support avalanche safety and awareness! Fundraising prizes for top 5 individuals who raise over $500. No racing is necessary to compete for the fundraising prizes. Info is HERE.
From obs on Divide Peak (2/4/22): "On the way out a surfed over a steep roll over that fractured and slid. It appeared to have slid on the new snow interface."
From obs (2/4/22) on Divide Peak: "the wind was cooking for most of the day and each lap the skin track was covered in places. There was wind loading along the ridge the snow was pretty cohesive and wanted fracture and propagate but I was not surfing steep enough slopes for this to happen"