24-25

Wet Loose Avalanches, W Miller Ridge

Miller Ridge
Cooke City
Code
WL-N
Elevation
9500
Aspect
SW
Latitude
45.04230
Longitude
-109.96500
Notes

Today we observed wet loose avalanches in steep, rocky terrain on the west side of Miller ridge. SW facing, 9500 ft

 

Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Wet loose-snow avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
Problem Type
Loose Wet
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Multiple Avalanches
Advisory Year

Wet loose activity, W Miller Ridge

Date
Activity
Skiing

Today we observed wet loose avalanches in steep, rocky terrain on the west side of Miller ridge. SW facing, 9500 ft

 

Region
Cooke City
Location (from list)
Miller Ridge
Observer Name
J Mundt

Cornice Fall Wind Slab Avalanche in Storm Castle Creek

Storm Castle
Northern Gallatin
Code
SS-NC-R2-D2-I
Aspect
E
Latitude
45.45040
Longitude
-111.22400
Notes

Toured much of the Hyalite zone yesterday.  Winds calmed, sun came out mid day.  1” of new snow and 3” the day before.  Skiing was great.  Saw a couple huge cornices that had broken off.  From the top of Devide peak we observed what looked like a cornice release above the headwaters of storm castle creek which triggered a slab, east facing aspect.  Looked to be several feet deep and ran a long way. No other signs of instability observed.  Great skiing. Solar aspects were saturated by the afternoon.

 

 

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Cornice fall
R size
2
D size
2
Bed Surface
I - Interface between new and old snow
Problem Type
Wind-Drifted Snow
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

Fairly fresh avalanche up Hyalite

Date
Activity
Skiing

Saw a fairly fresh avalanche up Hyalite from the top of the Fat and Skinny Maids, I think that would put the avalanche in the Storm Castle Creek basin. North facing shady aspects were still cool and chalky, solar aspects were getting quite warm. 

Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Hyalite - main fork
Observer Name
Florence Miller

Good skiing, rapid warming

Date
Activity
Snowboarding

Got an early-ish start to beat the heat and was on top of Elephant Mountain by 9am this morning. Skied the southeast bowl for our first lap, which was supportable and mostly good corn skiing. It was unclear when solar aspects were going to fall apart, but I wouldn't have wanted to be skiing that bowl much later than we had. Very light wind, few clouds, and strong sun made for pretty rapid warming. The north aspect held cold snow down to 7500 ft or so, though it is quite shaded. Shout out to the party behind us up top for allowing me to engage them in meaningful communication about not skiing on top of us. That dialogue was appreciated. Lots of ski tracks in high places, pretty fun to see. 

Region
Northern Gallatin
Location (from list)
Elephant Mountain
Observer Name
George Faegre

Cornice fall triggered slide in Sunlight Basin

Taylor Fork
Southern Madison
Code
HS-NC-R2-D2.5
Elevation
9400
Aspect
N
Latitude
44.97060
Longitude
-111.31000
Notes

Another day of warm temps and clear skies allowed us to cover a lot of ground in the Southern Madisons. We rode into the Taylor Fork, up to the weather station, to the top of Carrot Basin, through Sage Basin, up and over into Cabin Creek, and all the way up to the head of Red Canyon.

We spotted a few old avalanches. One in Cabin Creek that was triggered two days ago by snowmobilers on a N facing aspect. At the top of Carrot Basin, we saw a small avalanche (R1-D1) on a N aspect that likely broke yesterday on buried weak layers. We also spotted one cornice-fall triggered (R2-D2) avalanche that broke earlier this week in Sage Basin and then an older cornice fall triggered slab in Sunlight Basin.

 

Number of slides
1
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Hard slab avalanche
Trigger
Cornice fall
R size
2
D size
2.5
Problem Type
Cornice Fall
Vertical Fall
300ft
Slab Width
150.00ft
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Single Avalanche
Advisory Year

Wet slides in S. Madison

Taylor Fork
Southern Madison
Code
WL-N-R1-D1.5
Aspect Range
SE-S-SW
Latitude
45.06070
Longitude
-111.27200
Notes

Another day of warm temps and clear skies allowed us to cover a lot of ground in the Southern Madisons. We rode into the Taylor Fork, up to the weather station, to the top of Carrot Basin, through Sage Basin, up and over into Cabin Creek, and all the way up to the head of Red Canyon.

There were a handful of small wet-loose avalanches on solar aspects that we noted throughout the day. While northerly aspects stayed cold, solar aspects became wet a couple inches down.

 

Number of slides
3
Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Wet loose-snow avalanche
Trigger
Natural trigger
R size
1
D size
1.5
Problem Type
Wet Snow
Snow Observation Source
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Multiple Avalanches
Advisory Year