Saw cracking of cornices on the ridgeline NE of Mount Blackmore. Just a little nudge released a significant portion. Photo: T Miller
Northern Gallatin
Windy in Hyalite
Date
Activity
Skiing
Lots of snow moving around in Hyalite this morning! Strong winds were moving snow at/above treeline, Lee aspects getting loaded. Observed a fresh slide on the north side of Mt Blackmore, crown was already filling in, but looked to be a foot or two deep in steep rocky terrain to the skiers left of the north couloir. Some big snow bombs coming out of the trees on the trail right onto your head.
Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Mt Blackmore
Observer Name
Spencer Jonas
Cornice Failure
Date
Activity
Skiing
Saw cracking of cornices on the ridgeline NE of Mount Blackmore. Just a little nudge released a significant portion. A good reminder to give cornices room above and below.
Other than that, it was a beautiful day of skiing with sun, moderate temps, and pow. 👍
Region
Northern Gallatin
Observer Name
Shep
Snowpit from the top of Tyler's slope in Beehive Basin, W facing, 9200 ft. This is representative of an area with thin snow that is weaker
Snowprofile from the top of Tyler's slope in Beehive Basin. W facing, 9200 ft
Deep vs Shallow Beehive area
Date
Activity
Skiing
Went looking for shallow and weak snow. Found it in the small steep slope just above the creek not far from the TH (HS ~80-90cm, fist hard facets near the ground, ECTP18).
Then dug near the top of Tyler's where it is typically weak. HS 103 cm, F+ hardness facets about a foot above the ground, ECTP28).
In Middle Basin we found snow depths of 150 cm and 200 cm.
No avalanches seen and we had good visibility. (one group was skiing in upper Bear)
No collapsing or cracking either.
It seems unlikely to trigger avalanches on facets in deeper areas. It seems possible in thinner areas. How possible? Not sure exactly, but the odds are decreasing the longer things sit without more snow or wind loading.
The primary concerns moving forward are wind slabs and storm slabs unless there is some major storm with a lot of wind and water.
Generally Moderate danger but we could be moving towards Low with time and depending on the weather.
Snow quality - lots of good powder, but lots of wind affected snow above treeline. Sunny slopes got damp today.
Region
Northern Madison
Location (from list)
Beehive Basin
Observer Name
Staples & Staples & Sunny
Wet Loose Avalanches in Hyalite
Hyalite - main fork
Northern Gallatin
Code
WL-N-R1-D1
Latitude
45.43470
Longitude
-110.96300
Notes
From obs: "Yesterday afternoon, 1/14, saw lots of roller balls and a few sizable sluffs come down around the dribbles area. This morning lots of small sluffs coming down around bingo cave as soon as the sun hit it. Noticeably heavy, wet snow on solar slopes as well."
From obs: "Things were really moving by mid morning. The trail along Unnamed Wall was buried in several places by wet slides as the wall warmed. Some were big enough to take you down. We did not see any movement on the other side of the valley."
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Wet loose-snow avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
1
D size
1
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year
Warm snow in Hyalite
Date
Activity
Ice Climbing
Things were really moving by mid morning. The trail along Unnamed Wall was buried in several places by wet slides as the wall warmed. Some were big enough to take you down. We did not see any movement on the other side of the valley.
Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Hyalite - main fork
Observer Name
JJ