22-23

<p>Dangerous avalanche conditions exist in the mountains around Bozeman, Big Sky, West Yellowstone and Cooke City. Strong winds wreaked havoc on last week’s powder, forming thick drifts of hard, wind-blown snow on many slopes at all elevations and aspects. Weak layers in the upper three feet of the snowpack create conditions where avalanches can break widely across slopes. Avalanches failing on weak snow near the ground are unlikely but should not be ruled out. Avoid avalanche terrain and the runout zones below, as backcountry travelers can trigger avalanches from the flats above or below steep slopes. New snow exacerbates these problems, especially in the Bridger Range, where up to 7” fell in the last 24 hours.</p>

<p>Yesterday, Doug and Ian remotely triggered an avalanche on a small slope from 50’ away at Lionhead and heeded this clearest of warnings to avoid steep terrain (<a href="https://youtu.be/hpLK-1vISH0"><strong><span>video</span></strong></a&gt;). An explosive placed within Bridger Bowl Ski Area boundaries released an avalanche across most of the “Football Field” on Saddle Peak. The ski patrol DOES NOT mitigate avalanches outside ski area boundaries (i.e. Saddle Peak), conditions were such that inbounds mitigation also released an avalanche in the backcountry. This is the second large avalanche on Saddle Peak within a week; the first broke over 1000’ wide during last week’s storm (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27891"><strong><span>details</span></s…;). Skiers in the Flanders Drainage of Hyalite saw large natural avalanches that broke recently across ridgelines and through trees (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27946"><strong><span>details and photos</span></strong></a>). The Big Sky Ski Patrol triggered numerous hard-slab avalanches during their avalanche routes. Similar hard slabs of wind-drifted snow exist throughout the backcountry with the addition of unmitigated weak layers.</p>

<p>The avalanche conditions in Cooke City are the same, minus the ongoing strong winds. Yesterday, skiers northwest of Cooke City noted clear signs of instability when they triggered multiple collapses. Earlier this week, I avoided avalanche terrain in Cooke City after observing many recent avalanches and getting unstable results on buried weak layers up to 3’ deep in every test we performed (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27934"><strong><span>avalanche details and videos</span></strong></a>).</p>

<p>Watch our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXu5151nmAvTi1DBS5B4DBCruL1ULhkt… videos</span></strong></a> and read the <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/snow-observations-list"><strong><span>obser… page</span></strong></a> for detailed information about additional field locations. Browse the <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/avalanche-activity"><strong><span>Avalanche Activity Log</span></strong></a> to note nearly thirty entries since January 25, many of which include multiple avalanches.</p>

<p>Conservative decision-making is essential today. Avoid steep terrain and the runout areas below. The danger is CONSIDERABLE.</p>

<p><span>Please share avalanche, snowpack or weather observations via our<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_obs"><span&gt; </span></a><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_obs"><strong><span>website</s…;, email (<strong>mtavalanche@gmail.com</strong>), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs). <span><span>&nbsp;</span></span></span></p>

<p><span>Dangerous avalanche conditions exist in the mountains in Island Park. Strong winds wreaked havoc on last week’s powder, forming thick drifts of hard, wind-blown snow on many slopes at all elevations and aspects. Weak layers in the upper three feet of the snowpack create conditions where avalanches can break widely across slopes. Build a wide margin for error today by avoiding steep terrain and the runout areas below avalanche paths.</span></p>