Weather and Avalanche Log for Sun Feb 4, 2024
AVALANCHE WARNING for Island Park, Lionhead, S. Madison, S. Gallatin
AVALANCHE WARNING for Island Park, Lionhead, S. Madison, S. Gallatin
Went snowmobiling/skiing below White Peak. We saw older crowns down low in the meadows. While skinning up a mellow south facing nose off white peak, we dug down and got a ECTP15 2.5 feet below the surface. About 8-10 inches of snow fell throughout the day up high. As we continued to skin up higher, we observed numerous collapses before we decided to call it a day. We observed that aspects without a crust layer from this week were more reactive, although we saw propagation on solar aspects with a defined crust as well.
Went snowmobiling/skiing below White Peak. We saw older crowns down low in the meadows. While skinning up a mellow south facing nose off white peak, we dug down and got a ECTP15 2.5 feet below the surface. About 8-10 inches of snow fell throughout the day up high. As we continued to skin up higher, we observed numerous collapses before we decided to call it a day. We observed that aspects without a crust layer from this week were more reactive, although we saw propagation on solar aspects with a defined crust as well.
Went up Lick Creek today with the intention of getting out in the new snow and doing some digging. We dug a couple pits on a north aspect at the top of the meadow at 8064' in an area of wind drifted snow. We observed propagation in both pits up 25cm on a faceted layer. HS 64cm, ECTP21, CT17 Q2. Skiing on the SE aspect was very thin but decent on a firm supportable crust formed during last week's warmer temps.
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Human triggered avalanches are likely today. New snow will make it easier to trigger avalanches, but be especially heads up because even before this new snow started to fall, we were seeing avalanches triggered days after the last loading event. Yesterday, a rider in Island Park triggered an avalanche and was partially buried while riding solo, but was thankfully able to eventually dig himself out unharmed (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30469"><span><span><span><strong><span…;). Earlier this week, near Cooke City, an avalanche was triggered on Daisy Pass (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30425"><span><span><span><strong><span…;), ice climbers approaching a climb triggered a large slide from 150 feet away (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30408"><span><span><span><strong><span>…;) and a rider was partially buried near Round Lake (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://youtu.be/cn0lR8XMzl4"><span><span><span><strong><span><u><span>…;).</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>This season’s snowpack is unusually weak. Every time it’s snowed even a couple inches things have become very touchy and we’ve seen avalanches being easily triggered from hundreds of feet away and breaking widely. Expect the same today. I wouldn’t be surprised to see avalanches breaking naturally. Keep things simple today - avoid all steep slopes and be cautious passing beneath them because you could trigger a slide from below. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The danger will rise as snow falls today. The more snow that accumulates, the more dangerous conditions will become. The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In the Bridger Range, it has snowed less than elsewhere so far and it is expected to get a little less snowfall today. This means that human triggered avalanches are a little less likely in the Bridgers. Don’t misread this as saying conditions are safe. Triggering big slab avalanches is still a possibility. This skier triggered slide on Saddle Peak (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30161"><span><span><span><strong><span…;) from a couple weeks ago that ran 1400 vertical feet over rocks and cliffs is the sort of avalanche you could trigger today and should consider before getting onto steep slopes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Today, your reasonable options include either continuing to avoid slopes steeper than 30 degrees, or carefully assessing the snowpack, watching for signs of instability, and considering the consequences of triggering a slide before riding in avalanche terrain. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The avalanche danger is MODERATE today. If it starts snowing harder than expected, the danger will quickly rise to CONSIDERABLE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Our education calendar is full of awareness lectures and field courses. Check it out: Events and Education Calendar.
After riding around in Miller zone rode up towards the east Crown Butte avalanche from this week to take a look!
Dug near the old cabin structure HS 100cm -140cm in area
210 deg aspect, @ 9380 ' on a 10deg slope
HS 110cm, ECTP28 on 3-4mm facets 20 cm up from ground.
Notes: solars and low elevation slopes formed a thin breakable crust over the last three days, under the crust in many places is a thin layer of faceting snow on top of a hard slab.
From email on 2/2/24: "We received a call of a missing snowmobile in the Keg Springs area of Island Park at 1642. The missing snowmobiler arrived at 1800 hours at the rental property his party is staying at and said he had self-extricated from an avalanche."
From email on 2/2/24: "We received a call of a missing snowmobile in the Keg Springs area of Island Park at 1642. The missing snowmobiler arrived at 1800 hours at the rental property his party is staying at and said he had self-extricated from an avalanche."