Trip Planning for Cooke City Area

"At approximately 15:40 a D3 avalanche on the Gardiner headwall broke.  It was triggered by a snowboarder and his dog.  The run had already been tracked by skis and snow machines but the trigger point was slightly farther skier right and appeared to trigger a convex wind slab. Several skiers, boarders, and riders were in the area but there were no burials or injuries." Photo: C. Cavill

"At approximately 15:40 a D3 avalanche on the Gardiner headwall broke.  It was triggered by a snowboarder and his dog.  The run had already been tracked by skis and snow machines but the trigger point was slightly farther skier right and appeared to trigger a convex wind slab. Several skiers, boarders, and riders were in the area but there were no burials or injuries." Photo: C. Cavill

From obs 5/23/24: "shooting cracks in the top 4 to 5 inches of new snow in middle basin" Photo: N. Greiner

From obs 5/23/24: "Toured to the top of PK during today’s storm. Snow was very wet and heavy. We saw no other slides or signs of instability on the way up. Coming down skiers right of flippers, all 3 of us caused small slides and cracking within the new snow. I triggered the largest slide, which was 6-8” deep and 12’ wide." Photo: T. Jordan

From email 5/16/24: "I saw the photo of the fisher peak avalanche on the website. Figured I could fill in the blanks. Not a natural slide, snowmobile triggered.

At approximately 12:15pm last Saturday I was climbing above fisher bench and unintentionally set off a slab avalanche on fisher peak. I was jumping the cornice at the ridge and had a massive slope collapse, followed by shooting cracks and propagation downslope. I was able to wheelie through the crown and sidehill above the slide away from the debris area.

5 minutes before my climb, another snowmobiler put a high mark 60 ft away from where I climbed with no results. There were numerous tracks on the slope prior to this avalanche, I found the weak spot. My riding partner was watching me from a safe zone further south, as we knew there was new snow instabilities to watch out for, at a minimum.

We rode all day Friday without any obvious instabilities on similar slopes. We didn’t see the sheep mountain slide Friday morning. I took some pictures of the slide right after it happened. See attached…"

From email 5/16/24: "I saw the photo of the fisher peak avalanche on the website. Figured I could fill in the blanks. Not a natural slide, snowmobile triggered.

At approximately 12:15pm last Saturday I was climbing above fisher bench and unintentionally set off a slab avalanche on fisher peak. I was jumping the cornice at the ridge and had a massive slope collapse, followed by shooting cracks and propagation downslope. I was able to wheelie through the crown and sidehill above the slide away from the debris area.

5 minutes before my climb, another snowmobiler put a high mark 60 ft away from where I climbed with no results. There were numerous tracks on the slope prior to this avalanche, I found the weak spot. My riding partner was watching me from a safe zone further south, as we knew there was new snow instabilities to watch out for, at a minimum.

We rode all day Friday without any obvious instabilities on similar slopes. We didn’t see the sheep mountain slide Friday morning. I took some pictures of the slide right after it happened. See attached…"

From obs 5/12/24: "Saw a few slides that look like they propagated across the layer of new snow from the last storm (as opposed to the characteristic spring wet snow point releases). The largest was the previously reported one from Sheep... We also saw a similar slide on a N/NW aspect of Mt Zimmer (pictured). Hard to say from a distance when these broke, but the one on Mt Zimmer looked the most recent." Photo: A. Kautzer

From obs 5/12/24: "Saw a few slides that look like they propagated across the layer of new snow from the last storm (as opposed to the characteristic spring wet snow point releases). The largest was the previously reported one from Sheep. On the way out we saw a smaller slide farther south along the same ridge that looked like it broke on the new snow interface, both NE aspects (pictured)." Photo: A. Kautzer

From email 5/11/24: “Hey Guys, here are a few photos from the weekend. The sheep Mountain Avalanche was Snowmobile triggered on Friday…”

From email 5/11/24: “Hey Guys, here are a few photos from the weekend. … the fisher peak avalanche happened today. Maybe cornice drop?”

From IG story 5/8/24: "@mtavalanche remote triggers today in Cooke City. 2-4' of fresh north of round lake."

On 5/4/24 Skiers triggered large wet loose slides on the Fin near Cooke City

From obs 5/2/24: "Wind load on old crust, probably from Wednesday."

From email 5/1/24: "Hi crew. I triggered a soft slab avalanche on the North side of Sheep Mountain today. D1.5 200’ wide ran 200’.  Crown was 6-12’’ deep. I was able to ride out of it and anchor in a safe spot. 

It broke on our 7th lap and we had seen no signs of instability prior to the avalanche but wind loading was occurring and obvious. The avalanche broke and on a dirty crust that formed during a rain event last week."

Photos of what appears like a wet slab possibly from Friday (4/26) when the precip. started after the first night or two of poor freeze (Henderson Bench). Photo GNFAC

Photos of what appear like wet slabs possibly from Friday (4/26) when the precip. started after the first night or two of poor freeze (North side of Republic near Cooke City). Photo GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon.

On 4/26/24 large natural wet slabs were seen running on Wall Mountain near Silver Gate. An observer from Beartooth Powder Guides sent us a video of them happening at 3pm while it was 43 degrees F. I also noted a similar large crown on the north side of Republic Mtn. that probably also happened this afternoon. Photo: GNFAC

From IG on 04/26/2024 Photo: Beartooth Powder Guides

A skier triggered this sluff in a steep chute east of Republic Mountain. Photo: B

Skiers triggered a small sluff in steep terrain while skiing on the Fin near Republic Mountain. Photo: B. 

Riders saw this wet slab avalanche on the SE shoulder of Mount Abundance. The avalanche likely happened a few days ago during prolonged above-freezing temperatures. Photo: R.

Riders saw this wet slab avalanche on the SE shoulder of Mount Abundance. The avalanche likely happened a few days ago during prolonged above-freezing temperatures. Photo: R.

From obs: "Natural cornice failure and small slab on Iceberg Peak’s NE face. We skied by the day prior and judging by what the wind did to our tracks overnight, this looked like it happened in the morning." Photo A. Joy

A snowboarder saw this natural avalanche on the Fin from Cooke City. He estimated it happened between 10:30-1:30 and broke 2' deep. Photo: N. Mattes

We triggered this small avalanche on a steep windloaded rollover on an otherwise mellow slope. This avalanche was 15-20' wide, 8" deep, and ran for about 30-40 vertical feet. The skier easily skied away from the slide and was not caught. Photo: GNFAC

From obs: "skiing north of cooke city today observed this Small windslab on a South facing slope ~9800 ft." G. Roe
 

Skiers triggered this small windslab while skinning near a steeprollover at the top of an East facing slope above Zimmer Creek. Crown was ~20 ft wide and ran a similar distance. 2"-10" at the deepest. Photo: G. Roe

Skiers south of Cooke City saw a recent likely cornice-triggered avalanche on a northeast face. During their tour, they saw a small part of the same cornice fall off and trigger another small avalanche. Photo: B. Daley

A snowboarder intentionally triggered a wind-slab avalanche on Town Hill in Cooke City that broke 6-10” deep and approximately 30’ wide. It ran about 40 vertical feet. Photo: R. Youngbar

On the east side of Woody Ridge, skiers watched a wet, loose snow avalanche trigger a dry slab avalanche on March 17. photo: N Iltis

On the east side of Woody Ridge, skiers watched a wet, loose snow avalanche trigger a dry slab avalanche on March 17. photo: N Iltis

We saw no new deep slab avalanches in Cooke City since Alex was there last week. Unfortunately, if you triggered one, it would be no less deadly. This was a large deep slab avalanche on Sheep Mountain. Photo: GNFAC

Wet loose snow avalanche Astral Lake. Photo: GNFAC

A wet loose snow avalanche on Crown Butte. Photo: GNFAC

On 3/10/24 Between Miller and Wolverine there was a recent large avalanche that I would guess was triggered yesterday. 3-6' deep, 250-300' wide. Photo: GNFAC

On 3/10/24 Low on Daisy Road along the steep creek walls we saw three recent 2' deep avalanches. each 70-100' wide. HS-R4-D2-O. This one looked within the last day or two and the other two were maybe 3-4 days old. Triggers unknown, there were various ages of sled/snowbike tracks nearby. Photo: GNFAC

On 3/10/24 Low on Daisy Road along the steep creek walls we saw three recent 2'+ deep avalanches. each 70-100' wide. HS-R4-D2-O. This one maybe 3-4 days old. Triggers unknown, there were various ages of sled/snowbike tracks nearby. Photo: GNFAC