Photos

From email: “These pics are from last June 10-11, after the pass reopened on Friday. I was skiing the Gardner headwall at 5:30, solo, when this monster released. Yah. The initial cornice collapse triggered and entrained a secondary slab of varying thickness whose crown is seen in one of the photos.”

Wet slab avalanche on Hollow Top Mtn., Tobacco Roots 

ENE facing slope at 8,800’ Photo: S. Miller

On May 14 and 15 we saw crowns and debris of wet slabs that ran naturally over the past couple weeks.

Scotch Bonnet, S aspect, 9800'; Sheep Mtn. SW aspect, 9800'; Crown Butte, SE aspect, 10000'.

Hard to say exactly when they all occurred. The slides on Scotch Bonnet and Sheep appeared slightly fresher, but could have been a week old.

On May 14 and 15 we saw crowns and debris of wet slabs that ran naturally over the past couple weeks.

Scotch Bonnet, S aspect, 9800'; Sheep Mtn. SW aspect, 9800'; Crown Butte, SE aspect, 10000'.

Hard to say exactly when they all occurred. The slides on Scotch Bonnet and Sheep appeared slightly fresher, but could have been a week old.

On May 14 and 15 we saw crowns and debris of wet slabs that ran naturally over the past couple weeks.

Scotch Bonnet, S aspect, 9800'; Sheep Mtn. SW aspect, 9800'; Crown Butte, SE aspect, 10000'.

Hard to say exactly when they all occurred. The slides on Scotch Bonnet and Sheep appeared slightly fresher, but could have been a week old.

On May 14 and 15 we saw crowns and debris of wet slabs that ran naturally over the past couple weeks.

Scotch Bonnet, S aspect, 9800'; Sheep Mtn. SW aspect, 9800'; Crown Butte, SE aspect, 10000'. Hard to say exactly when they all occurred. 

From obs 5/7/23: "Natural R3-4, D4 ripped out a large chunk of the south face of Wilson during the last warm period I would assume. Debris everywhere and one large boat-sized pile even scoured a path further down than the rest of the debris. Looked to be a mix of wet loose and wet slab release from high up. Alpha angle at the bottom of the debris was 25 degrees" Photo: C. Ellingson

From obs 5/7/23: "Natural R3-4, D4 ripped out a large chunk of the south face of Wilson during the last warm period I would assume. Debris everywhere and one large boat-sized pile even scoured a path further down than the rest of the debris. Looked to be a mix of wet loose and wet slab release from high up. Alpha angle at the bottom of the debris was 25 degrees" Photo: C. Ellingson

From obs 5/7/23: "Natural R3-4, D4 ripped out a large chunk of the south face of Wilson during the last warm period I would assume. Debris everywhere and one large boat-sized pile even scoured a path further down than the rest of the debris. Looked to be a mix of wet loose and wet slab release from high up. Alpha angle at the bottom of the debris was 25 degrees" Photo: C. Ellingson

From obs 5/7/23: "Natural R3-4, D4 ripped out a large chunk of the south face of Wilson during the last warm period I would assume. Debris everywhere and one large boat-sized pile even scoured a path further down than the rest of the debris. Looked to be a mix of wet loose and wet slab release from high up. Alpha angle at the bottom of the debris was 25 degrees" Photo: C. Ellingson

"A natural wet slab avalanche that occurred just south of Cooke City yesterday May 3, around 6pm.

The slide is on a northerly spect around 8500'." Photo: B. Fredlund

From obs. “Natural wet slab avalanche, north of Cooke City, which likely happened on April 30th (observed May 1).

It's on a SW aspect, about 10,500'.  Crown estimated to be 4-6' deep.” Photo: B. Fredlund

Give Big Gallatin Valley is May 4-5. The Friends of the Avalanche Center are participating again this year and thank you for your support. Between 6pm on May 4 through 6pm on May 5 you can support your favorite local non-profits. Donate Here.

"Pictures from this morning (May 1) but I’m sure these all ran late last week. They took out at least one or two skin tracks set during the big dump (40”) that ran right up the center." Photo: A. Crawford

"Pictures from this morning (May 1) but I’m sure these all ran late last week. They took out at least one or two skin tracks set during the big dump (40”) that ran right up the center." Photo: A. Crawford

Obs 4/30/23: "We observed the remnant of one large wet slab on an east facing slope at around 8500 ft. I estimated the crown to be around 500 ft wide, and 5 feet deep at its maximum. I estimate this slide was a R2 D3, with an unknown natural trigger." Photo: W. Hubbard

From obs 4/30/23: "While touring into the Dry Boulder Creek drainage, we noticed remnants of many recent wet loose slides, and one significant wet slab avalanche. The wet loose slides had occurred on all aspects, including low-elevation north facing slopes. I estimate that most of the wet loose slides we observed were no larger than R2 for their respective paths, and most were D2, with some large, high elevation slides, reaching a possible D3." Photo: W. Hubbard

From obs 4/30/23: "While touring into the Dry Boulder Creek drainage, we noticed remnants of many recent wet loose slides, and one significant wet slab avalanche. The wet loose slides had occurred on all aspects, including low-elevation north facing slopes. I estimate that most of the wet loose slides we observed were no larger than R2 for their respective paths, and most were D2, with some large, high elevation slides, reaching a possible D3." Photo: W. Hubbard

Obs. 4/26/23: "Saw a number of large wet slides at Bridger Bowl the morning of 4/26. One running deep into North Bowl, and a couple other large slides in Bridger Gully coming off the ridge. These seemed to be recent -- likely from the past 48 hours." Photo: K. Gordon

From obs. 4/26/23: "Saw a number of large wet slides at Bridger Bowl the morning of 4/26. One running deep into North Bowl, and a couple other large slides in Bridger Gully coming off the ridge. These seemed to be recent -- likely from the past 48 hours." Photo: K. Gordon