Northern Gallatin

Natural avalanche in palace butte basin

Date
Activity
Skiing

Saw debris and what looked like a crown line from a natural avalanche that probably happened a day or two ago in palace butte basin on a NE aspect above Arden lake. My best guess is 150ft wide crown, 1-2ft deep?

Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Maid of the Mist

Storm slab in Buck

Buck Ridge
Northern Madison
Code
SS-N-R1-D1
Elevation
9200
Aspect
E
Latitude
45.17190
Longitude
-111.38000
Notes

Small storm slab released on a small piece of terrain. East aspect around 9200.

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
1
D size
1
Problem Type
New Snow
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

Slide on north face of Blackmore

Mt Blackmore
Northern Gallatin
Code
SS-N-R1-D1.5
Elevation
10000
Aspect
N
Latitude
45.44440
Longitude
-111.00400
Notes

Low winds/no snow transport when I was up there and the east face had little to no wind effect, probably 16-18in new snow. Saw this slide with about a 8-12in crown and 100ft wide on the north face, didn’t see any other activity aside from some small point releases on really steep east aspects.

From another party: Saw a sizable avalanche on the north east face of Blackmore, likely broke mid storm and was partly filled in already - estimated 20" deep, 100' wide. Had shooting cracks and collapsing while ascending northeast ridge. Hand pits showed planar results on an 8" harder slab beneath all the blower on top. 

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
1
D size
1.5
Problem Type
New Snow
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

Low winds/no snow transport when I was up there and the east face had little to no wind effect, probably 16-18in new snow. Saw this slide with about a 8-12in crown and 100ft wide on the north face, didn’t see any other activity aside from some small point releases on really steep east aspects.

Northern Gallatin, 2023-02-15

Slide on north face of blackmore

Date
Activity
Skiing

Light winds when I was up there with little to no wind effect on the east face. Saw this slide with an 8-12in crown and 100ft wide on the north face, didn’t see any other activity asides from some point releases on really steep east aspects.

Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Mt Blackmore
Observer Name
Ben Farrell

Slide on north face of Blackmore

Date
Activity
Skiing

Low winds/no snow transport when I was up there and the east face had little to no wind effect, probably 16-18in new snow. Saw this slide with about a 8-12in crown and 100ft wide on the north face, didn’t see any other activity aside from some small point releases on really steep east aspects.

From another party: Saw a sizable avalanche on the north east face of Blackmore, likely broke mid storm and was partly filled in already - estimated 20" deep, 100' wide. Had shooting cracks and collapsing while ascending northeast ridge. Hand pits showed planar results on an 8" harder slab beneath all the blower on top. 

Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Mt Blackmore
Observer Name
Ben Farrell

Blackmore

Date
Activity
Skiing

Saw a sizable avalanche on the north east face of Blackmore, likely broke mid storm and was partly filled in already - estimated 20" deep, 100' wide. Had shooting cracks and collapsing while ascending northeast ridge. Hand pits showed planar results on an 8" harder slab beneath all the blower on top. 

Region
Northern Gallatin
Observer Name
Steve Kuznetsov

Small storm slabs on Sourdough Canyon road cuts

Sourdough Canyon
Northern Gallatin
Code
SS-N-R1-D1
Elevation
6000
Aspect Range
W-NW
Latitude
45.56860
Longitude
-111.00900
Notes

We observed a few small crowns on steeper road cuts in Sourdough today, NW and W aspects. 4-8" at crown, 20-40' wide, ~10' vertical. They looked like storm slabs that had run overnight, maybe on a density change in the storm snow. Debris piles were small and covered with 2-3" of new snow. Low consequence, but maybe enough to surprise a kid or a dog. Photos were taken shortly above the 2 mile marker.

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
1
D size
1
Problem Type
New Snow
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

We observed a few small crowns on steeper road cuts in Sourdough today, NW and W aspects. 4-8" at crown, 20-40' wide, ~10' vertical. They looked like storm slabs that had run overnight, maybe on a density change in the storm snow. Debris piles were small and covered with 2-3" of new snow. Low consequence, but maybe enough to surprise a kid or a dog. Photos were taken shortly above the 2 mile marker.

Northern Gallatin, 2023-02-15

Small remote trigger on history rock

History Rock
Northern Gallatin
Code
SS-ASu-R1-D1
Latitude
45.48920
Longitude
-111.00500
Notes

Was about 80% of the way up to the top of the middle meadow on history rock this morning when we remotely triggered a small avalanche from the skin trackSlide was just new snow that had fallen within prior 24hrs.  Crown of about 8 inches, 20ish feet wide by 20 feet long.  Face that slid was east facing.  We took this as a sign to reconsider skiing something even as low key as history rock and decided to ski the skin track back.

[Dropped the pin for this observation exactly where I believe the observation to have occurred.  Took an OnX waypoint while out there to help too.]

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Skier
Trigger Modifier
u-An unintentional release
R size
1
D size
1
Problem Type
New Snow
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year