Trip Planning for Southern Gallatin

From email: “These pics are from last June 10-11, after the pass reopened on Friday. I was skiing the Gardner headwall at 5:30, solo, when this monster released. Yah. The initial cornice collapse triggered and entrained a secondary slab of varying thickness whose crown is seen in one of the photos.”

From obs 5/7/23: "Natural R3-4, D4 ripped out a large chunk of the south face of Wilson during the last warm period I would assume. Debris everywhere and one large boat-sized pile even scoured a path further down than the rest of the debris. Looked to be a mix of wet loose and wet slab release from high up. Alpha angle at the bottom of the debris was 25 degrees" Photo: C. Ellingson

Give Big Gallatin Valley is May 4-5. The Friends of the Avalanche Center are participating again this year and thank you for your support. Between 6pm on May 4 through 6pm on May 5 you can support your favorite local non-profits. Donate Here.

From Big Sky Ski Patrol: "Temps remained a little cooler than yesterday and generally topped out in the mid 40’s F. That didn’t stop the free water from moving
and continuing to destabilize the snowpack, primarily on solar aspects below 10,000’. Near full depth to full depth wet loose avalanches continued to naturally release in what was left of the A-Z’s as well as LRT which had not seen any activity yesterday." Photo: BSSP

From obs. 4/7/23: "I went through the area of Three Rivers Peak yesterday, and there had been a pretty nice cycle of large slides recently. One on the east face of Three Rivers broke 6-800’ wide 2-10’+ deep, and ran full track. It only had a couple inches of snow on it, so I think it ran sometime during the recent warm days. Some of the walls along the slide were over 20’ high, and I imagine the debris pile might make it through the summer. I also observed a couple older slides on E\NE aspects that were older, but not a whole lot smaller." Photo: S. Reinsel

From obs. 4/7/23: "I went through the area of Three Rivers Peak yesterday, and there had been a pretty nice cycle of large slides recently. One on the east face of Three Rivers broke 6-800’ wide 2-10’+ deep, and ran full track. It only had a couple inches of snow on it, so I think it ran sometime during the recent warm days. Some of the walls along the slide were over 20’ high, and I imagine the debris pile might make it through the summer. I also observed a couple older slides on E\NE aspects that were older, but not a whole lot smaller." Photo: S. Reinsel

From obs. 4/7/23: "I went through the area of Three Rivers Peak yesterday, and there had been a pretty nice cycle of large slides recently. One on the east face of Three Rivers broke 6-800’ wide 2-10’+ deep, and ran full track. It only had a couple inches of snow on it, so I think it ran sometime during the recent warm days. Some of the walls along the slide were over 20’ high, and I imagine the debris pile might make it through the summer. I also observed a couple older slides on E\NE aspects that were older, but not a whole lot smaller." Photo: S. Reinsel

From obs. 4/7/23: "I went through the area of Three Rivers Peak yesterday, and there had been a pretty nice cycle of large slides recently. One on the east face of Three Rivers broke 6-800’ wide 2-10’+ deep, and ran full track. It only had a couple inches of snow on it, so I think it ran sometime during the recent warm days. Some of the walls along the slide were over 20’ high, and I imagine the debris pile might make it through the summer. I also observed a couple older slides on E\NE aspects that were older, but not a whole lot smaller." Photo: S. Reinsel

From obs 3/26/23: "Saw a couple small natural slides breaking in the new snow. The one on the small slope beside the road actually appeared to have broken when a snow bike crossed the top just off the side of the road." Photo: J. Weingarten

From obs 3/26/23: "Saw a couple small natural slides breaking in the new snow.... occurred in the afternoon sometime" Photo: J. Weingarten

Photo: R. Lindsey

Slab avalanche on NE facing slope at 7,500 feet - slid to the ground. Photo: K. Gordon

Slab avalanche on NE facing slope at 7,500 feet - slid to the ground. Photo: K. Gordon

Via IG: “Electric peak via Betty gulch avalanches. Assuming they are natural!” Photo: R Rose

Via IG: “Electric peak via Betty gulch avalanches. Assuming they are natural!” Photo: R Rose

Via IG: “Electric peak via Betty gulch avalanches. Assuming they are natural!” Photo: R Rose

From IG message: "3 different slides lionhead area. One was very big the run out was 20 feet tall and quarter mile long" Photo: T. Urell

On Buck Ridge today (3/5/23) we found fresh, unstable drifts. This fresh slab was 4-6" deep. Cracking like this is a sign that wind slabs will avalanche on steeper slopes. Photo: GNFAC

Skier triggered avalanche on Elephant Mtn. 3/4/23. SS-ASu-R2-D1.5-I

Vertical Fall: ~700' Distance Traveled: ~1000' Aspect: 15 N Elevation of start zone: 9645'

Skier triggered deep slab avalanche on NE face of Hyalite Peak 3/4/23.

From IG: Skiers near Mt. Blackmore on 2/24 saw a large avalanche on the east side of Mt. Blackmore that appeared to have happened in the last 24 hours.

From email 2/24/23: "Came across this very large cornice that appeared to have broken naturally sometime in the past 24 hours. Saw a few others that had broken recently throughout our tour, but none as large as this." E. Heiman

From email 2/24/23: "Triggered a small 2’ deep wind slab in new snow this afternoon.  NNE aspect 9,500’, approximately 38° slope.  Riding was excellent on all high North facing slopes and this was the only sign of instability we saw all day.  Wind was howling on the way out, lots of snow coming out of the trees and transporting at ridge tops."

Surface hoar can often be seen as a grey stripe on the wall of your snowpit as was the case at Bacon Rind in the Southern Madison Range on 1/23. Photo: GNFAC

On a Jan. 16 tour into Beehive, we found the concerning layer of feathery surface hoar buried under 6" of snow. It is widespread from Big Sky through West Yellowstone and Cooke City. It has produced avalanches near Hebgen Lake, with more snow, it will likely produce avalanches in Beehive too. Photo: GNFAC

Darren Johnson was a passionate skier, patroller, and wildland firefighter and this fund helps his memory live on. During the week of January 16, 2023, there are two events happening to help spread awareness about the DJ Fund and generate donations for the next recipients to attend National Avalanche School in October 2024. The first event is at the Independent Theatre on Tuesday, January 17. This charity event has a $10 entry fee which includes a raffle ticket to a silent auction. On Thursday, January 19, join us at Beehive Basin Brewery for a raffle and pint night in which $1 from every pint sold goes into the DJ Memorial Fund.

To donate to the Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund visit djmemorialfund.org, or join us at these two exciting events hosted by Yellowstone Club Ski Patrol. Huge thanks to all who have sponsored and donated to these events.

Skier unintentionally triggered and was caught in wind slab avalanche on the Y couloir in Sheep Creek Drainage. Skier was carried 10m before self arresting. The slide ran ~250m down and broke across the entire width of the couloir. There were no injuries and skied away. 

We looked at the avalanche that killed a snowmobiler yesterday (12/31/22) on Crown Butte near Cooke City. Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim, and those involved with the rescue and recovery. Photo: GNFAC

On December 31, 2022 a snowmobiler was killed in a very large avalanche north of Cooke City, MT. The avalanche occurred near Daisy Pass on Crown Butte on a southeast facing slope at 9,800’. The avalanche appeared to be 2-4' deep, 500' wide, 600' vertical, and broke on weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack. Photo: GNFAC

Many slick roofs shed this winter's snow with the above-freezing temperatures. There are some impressive fracture lines at the ice rink in Bogert Park in Bozeman. Photo: GNFAC

We dug a pit at 9,000 feet on a SE facing slope above Hebgen Lake. We found weak snow under a slab that broke with an ECTP26. Photo: GNFAC

From obs 12/3/22: "Looking east from the top of [Ernie Miller] ridge, we noted another crown on a west aspect that looked to be about 100' wide and deep." Photo: H. Darby

From obs 12/3/22: "Looking toward Ernie Miller ridge, we noted an old crown in the main bowl just below the summit. It was on an E-NE aspect, 200 or more feet wide and looked to be filled in with new snow but was still visible." Photo: H.Darby

From obs 12/3/22: "Toured up to Bacon Rind today and skied meadows off of the ridge. Dug a pit at 8700' on a W aspect. HS was 70cm. We got an ECTP12 45 cm up from the ground at the interface between wind packed snow and a layer of .5-1mm facets and mixed forms. That layer made up the bottom 45cm of the snowpack in that area. Dug another pit at 8800' on an E aspect. HS was 115cm. We got an ECTP 14 50cm up from the ground on that same interface as described above. The bottom 50cm of the snowpack looked to be facets and mixed forms. The upper 65cm in that area was a mixture of different layers of wind packed grains that ranged from F to 4F hardness." Photo: H. Darby

From obs 12/3/22: "Toured up to Bacon Rind today and skied meadows off of the ridge. Dug a pit at 8700' on a W aspect. HS was 70cm. We got an ECTP12 45 cm up from the ground at the interface between wind packed snow and a layer of .5-1mm facets and mixed forms. That layer made up the bottom 45cm of the snowpack in that area. Dug another pit at 8800' on an E aspect. HS was 115cm. We got an ECTP 14 50cm up from the ground on that same interface as described above. The bottom 50cm of the snowpack looked to be facets and mixed forms. The upper 65cm in that area was a mixture of different layers of wind packed grains that ranged from F to 4F hardness." Photo: H. Darby

At 1:30pm on 11/23 I intentionally triggered a fresh drift of snow in a narrow avalanche path along the edge of the north bowl at Bridger. Northeast aspect at 7,600’ elevation. The crown was 6-8” deep consisting of snow that fell today, 20’ wide and ran 250’ vertical. SS-ASc-R2-D1.5-I. Photo: GNFAC

Big Sky ski patrol triggered these slides with explosives on 11/22 during routine avalanche mitigation work. The avalanches were hard slabs that averaged 12" deep and broke on a weak layer above a crust on top of snow that fell in October. Photo: BSSP

Big Sky ski patrol triggered these slides with explosives on 11/22 during routine avalanche mitigation work. The avalanches were hard slabs that averaged 12" deep and broke on a weak layer above a crust on top of snow that fell in October. Photo: BSSP

Observer reported "A number of Avalanche Crowns on an east aspect at 9500 ft." in Tepee Basin.