22-23

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Strong winds continue to drift snow into thicker slabs that could avalanche naturally, or easily be triggered by a person. A few inches of new snow near Cooke City and West Yellowstone is being transported by strong southwest wind into fresh, unstable drifts. Earlier this week, the mountains received 2-4 feet of snow (1.5-4.5” of snow water equivalent) which was blown into drifts by wind from various directions, and a few large avalanches broke during the storm or immediately after (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/weather/wx-avalanche-log"><span><span><span… and weather log</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>). These large drifts remain possible to trigger, and could avalanche naturally with additional weight from wind-drifted snow.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Doug was in Cooke City yesterday and had a drift collapse and “whumph” as he stepped on it (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8XdEKnZqVM&amp;list=PLXu5151nmAvTi1DBS…;). Yesterday near Buck Ridge a rider triggered a 2 foot thick avalanche of last week’s wind-drifted snow (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/28293"><span><span><span><strong><span… and details</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>). Skiers on Mt. Blackmore saw a 2 foot deep large natural avalanche (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/23/large-natural-wind-slab-mt-blackm…;), and skiers in Beehive saw a very large cornice collapse (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/23/natural-cornice-collapse-beehive"…;). Both appeared to have happened within the previous day.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Today, wind-loaded slopes are dangerous, and cautious route finding and conservative decision making are essential. Carefully assess the snowpack for signs of recently formed drifts. Drifts often appear as round or smooth pillows and form below cornices and convex rolls and on the opposite side of scoured ridgelines. Seek out slopes that do not have recent drifts or slopes that are less than 30 degrees steep. Today the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on wind-loaded slopes and MODERATE on all other slopes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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