Trip Planning for Southern Madison

as of 5:00 am
Nov 290″ | NA
Nov 28 0″ | NA
Nov 27 0″ | NA
9460′     at
- mph
Gusts mph
9000′     11/30 at 00:00
19℉
19″ Depth
Bottom Line: In the last 36 hours the mountains picked up 2-4” of snow, except Cooke City, which got nothing. Wind has been gusting out of the east and blew this new snow into drifts at all elevations, our primary avalanche concern. These whales of snow, typically found in gullies, could be triggered by a skier, ice climber or hunter. Cracks shooting out in front of your feet or skis are a warning to not go further.
Primary Problem: Wind-Drifted Snow

Past 5 Days

Fri Nov 3

None
Fri Nov 10

None
Fri Nov 17

None
Thu Nov 23

None
Fri Nov 24

None

Relevant Avalanche Activity

Southern Madison
Taylor Fork
Shooting cracks and small wind slabs in the Southern Madison Range
Incident details include images
Taylor Fork
Coordinates: 45.0607, -111.2720
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

Went into the Lightning/Taylor Creek area of the Southern Madison’s in search of some powder skiing with the new snow. On our ascent toward Woodward Mountain via the backside, we found fresh snow varying from 2 inches at the trailhead to foot deep lightly drifted areas in the upper elevations. In the protected low angle gully we ascended this new snow sat atop either rocks or a very stout wind crust. The latter of which made for great skiing. We descended Woodward top down and assessed the possibility of thin (3”) wind slabs being reactive on the stout wind crust as the Woodward side seemed to have received a lot more loading from the storm’s E winds. As we rolled over to slightly steeper terrain, I noticed the snow stiffening just below my skis and gave it a few hops where I intentionally popped the pictured slab. With this information, we decided to carefully traverse to more protected trees and descend via a less wind loaded and hazardous route. We ski cut from tree to tree triggering a few more of these very small slabs before finding wonderful powder skiing lower on the mountain where the wind had significantly less effect. 

All of the slabs were 1 to 4 inches deep and propagated 5 to 15 feet wide. None of them possessed the mass or were on steep enough terrain to overcome and slide over the stauch wall. Overall was a great lesson in mitigating hazard and we were rewarded with some great turns. 


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Videos- Southern Madison

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Raynolds Pass, Looking N

Snowpit Profiles- Southern Madison

 

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Weather Forecast Southern Madison

Extended Forecast for

20 Miles S Big Sky MT

  • Overnight

    Overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. South southwest wind around 5 mph.

    Mostly Cloudy

    Low: 13 °F

  • Thursday

    Thursday: A 10 percent chance of snow after 5pm.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

    Mostly Cloudy
    then Slight
    Chance Snow

    High: 23 °F

  • Thursday
    Night

    Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow after 7pm.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. Wind chill values as low as zero. South southwest wind 10 to 14 mph.

    Slight Chance
    Snow

    Low: 13 °F

  • Friday

    Friday: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly after 11am.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19. Wind chill values as low as zero. South southwest wind 10 to 13 mph.  New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

    Chance Snow

    High: 19 °F

  • Friday
    Night

    Friday Night: Snow likely, mainly before 11pm.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. South southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

    Snow Likely

    Low: 13 °F

  • Saturday

    Saturday: Snow likely, mainly after 11am.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 18. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 17 to 22 mph increasing to 24 to 29 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

    Snow Likely
    and Breezy

    High: 18 °F

  • Saturday
    Night

    Saturday Night: Snow, mainly before 11pm.  Low around 10. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 14 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

    Snow and
    Breezy then
    Chance Snow

    Low: 10 °F

  • Sunday

    Sunday: A chance of snow, mainly after 11am.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21. South southwest wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

    Chance Snow

    High: 21 °F

  • Sunday
    Night

    Sunday Night: Snow likely.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. Breezy.

    Snow Likely
    and Breezy

    Low: 17 °F

The Last Word

We travel with a lot of electronics that could interfere with our avalanche transceiver, both as a victim and as a rescuer. Check out our article on Electronic Warfare to learn what to do.

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