21-22
Hyalite Canyon
Date
Activity
Skiing
Skinned up into Maid of the Mist Basin and dropped over the ridgeline into the Basin below Mount Bole to ski a couloir to the north. We found widespread windslab on all aspects, nothing was reactive, but it was enough to make the skiing bad and unpredictable - one turn would be great, the next you'd be in breakable crust.
We dug 2 snowpits, both on SE-facing slopes at about 9600ft. Dug down ~100cm in each pit looking for near-surface instabilities. Had no unstable test results, but found a lot of weak faceted snow in both pits. Lots of people out skiing didn't observe any avalanches or signs of instability.
Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Mt. Bole
Observer Name
Mike Lavery
Saddle Peak
Date
Activity
Skiing
I am testing the "Submit Obs" platform, mainly the formatting, but that actual obs from today are real.
Allyson and I did a few laps inbounds at Bridger Bowl, then headed out the ridge to Saddle Peak. Allyson had never skied Saddle and was stoked to do it.
- Wind was strong on the ridge with gusts near 40 mph (I'm guessing), but it was manageable because temps were warm.
- There is no snow left to load on the west side.
- Skiing off the summit was good and chalky in most places with some softer, carvable pockets.
- Danger was Low.
I attached a pic from the top taken by the official @motogirlUSA. I just realized you can not send a movie on this form, just a link.
Region
Bridger Range
Location (from list)
Saddle Peak
Observer Name
Doug Chabot
GNFAC Avalanche Forecast for Sat Jan 29, 2022
Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion
<p>The snowpack across the advisory area is generally stable and avalanches are unlikely. Stay heads up for slides in isolated areas and in extreme terrain by carrying and being practiced with rescue gear, assessing the snowpack and exposing only one person at a time to avalanche terrain.</p>
<p>As we travel in the backcountry, we look for signs of instability as a reason to make more conservative choices. In the context of generally safe conditions, use the following signs of localized instability as motivators to test the snowpack before you step into steep terrain. Yesterday, a group of skiers in Beehive Basin got unstable test results on deeper facets in an area with a thin and weak snowpack. Skiers near Divide Peak found 6” wind-slabs sitting on weak snow that caused them to reevaluate skiing a steep, technical line. On Wednesday, skiers in Beehive Basin backed off a larger objective after triggering “micro” wind drifts that were “showstoppers in exposed terrain.” A team of ice climbers had their rope pile and water bottle pulled downhill when ice fall triggered a small avalanche in Hyalite Canyon and skiers on Woody Ridge near Cooke City noticed some minor cracking around steep rollovers. Continue to adjust plans if the mountains tell you that “today isn’t the day” and dig to test the snowpack when those signs are not obvious.</p>
<p>Doug, Ian and Alex are finding generally stable conditions in the field. However, at Mount Ellis, Ian found that the snowpack had weakened since he was there last (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjIW7Pp-hz0"><strong>video</strong></a&…;). Investigating an avalanche on Saddle Peak, Doug and Alex said, “We ended the day less optimistic than when we started regarding future stability” (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAKP0a0G9ks"><strong>video</strong></a&…;, <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/25629"><strong>details</strong></a>). And while the snowpack on Wheeler Mountain is particularly weak, when Doug and Ian stepped out of their skis, they dropped through the snow straight to the ground, never a sign of a strong structure (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ax6l1PhUb0"><strong>video</strong></a&…;). We will need to be ready to dial it back and reset our objectives when it starts snowing again.</p>
<p>Today, avalanches are unlikely, and the danger is LOW.</p>
<p>If you get out, please send us your observations no matter how brief. You can submit them via our <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_observation"><strong>website<…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong>mtavalanche@gmail.com</strong></a…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>
Upcoming Education Opportunities
See our education calendar for an up-to-date list of all local classes. Here are a few select upcoming events and opportunities to check out:
Skillet - Bacon Rind
Date
Activity
Skiing
Skied the Skillet today on Bacon Rind and found a layer of what looked to be surface hoar and decomposing particles buried 20cm below the surface under the fresh snow we received this week. It was about 2cm thick. Ian and I dug around at Bacon Rind on similar aspects during the second week of January and found (from what I remember) a relatively stable snowpack with rounded, pencil-hard grains. This pit showed that those grains look like they have weakened and seemed to be more mixed-form and loose/sugary in nature. Our HS was 130 cm right near the top of the line.
Region
Southern Madison
Location (from list)
Bacon Rind
Observer Name
Haylee Darby
Hyalite/divide pk
Date
Activity
Snowboarding
I walked down into the north notch(north facing shot part way up divide ridge) to see if it was safe to ride and dug a snow pit
it is very difficult to dig a pit on this slope with out exposing yourself
there was a 6” wind slab sitting on top of near surface facets which failed in stability tests so I did not ride this slope/run
Also further along the ridge east of divide pk a small chunk of a cornice fell onto the slope fractured/ released a small wind slab roughly 6” deep…..nothing big at all but it seems that near surface facets where the bed surface of this one also
Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Divide Peak