Northern Gallatin

"... while touring in the Northern Bridgers, my partner and I noticed a very large avalanche that occurred on a North face in "October Bowl" just to the south of Hardscrabble Pk. We didn't witness it and are unsure of a trigger, but we came in contact with all parties believed to be out there and assume it occurred naturally early this morning from heavy wind-loading. The crown seemed to be 2-3' deep but stepped down to the ground about 200' below the crown. The slide was about 400' in width and ran about 1,000' and we assumed classifications of R3.5 and D3.

Bridger Range, 2020-01-16

Natural Avalanches on Buck Ridge

Buck Ridge
Northern Madison
Code
N-R2-D2-O
Elevation
9150
Aspect
NE
Latitude
45.18580
Longitude
-111.41700
Notes

We could see a few avalanches that likely broke yesterday on 1/11/2020.

  1. The wind pillow under the large cornices in 2nd Yellowmule broke. It looked like just the wind load, vs breaking at the ground. 200' wide x 150' vertical 1-2 feet deep.
  2. In the 3rd Yellowmule  a wind-loaded slope avalanched 200' wide, 75' vertical and 2 feet deep. It broke on a layer of weak, faceted snow near the ground.
  3. Off the east ridge of MacAtee Ridge we could make out 3 slab avalanches that released naturally. Only one looked big enough to bury a person.
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
2
D size
2
Bed Surface
O - Old snow
Problem Type
Wind-Drifted Snow
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Multiple Avalanches
Advisory Year

This natural avalanche in 3rd Yellowmule on Buck Ridge likely occurred on Saturday, January 11. It was a wind loaded and very steep slope. It broke on facets near the ground and was big enough to bury a person (D2). The size was 2-3' deep, 200' wide and 75' vertical. Photo: GNFAC

Northern Madison, 2020-01-12