Good afternoon. This is Doug Chabot with early season snowpack information issued at 1 p.m. on Friday the 13th of November. Today’s information is sponsored by the Community Food Coop in partnership with the Friends of the Avalanche Center. This information will be updated as weather and snow conditions change.
It’s warm, partly cloudy and windy out there. Mountain temperatures are reaching the low 30s as west to southwest winds average 20-30 mph with gusts of 40. The winds will continue into tonight and calm tomorrow. Mountain temperatures will be slightly above freezing through the weekend with Saturday being the warmest and sunniest. There’s a chance of flurries Sunday night followed by below freezing temperatures next week with more snow possible on Thursday or Friday. If you are craving one last day of rock climbing or mountain biking, this weekend might be it.
There’s been no snowfall since Tuesday, although there’s been plenty of wind and wind-loading at all elevations (photo). Yesterday, Eric and Alex took a ski tour into the bowl below Sacajawea Peak in the Bridger Range and got blasted by the wind. Snow cover was variable: some slopes have enough snow to ski while others still have enough dirt to hike. They dug a pit at 8,700 feet in a wind-loaded area and got the snow to fracture in their stability test (snowpit profile,video). Although this instability will only be around for a few days (at most), I recommend avoiding these slopes this weekend.
Most snow depths range from 15-20 inches, but Cooke City is reported to have 30+ inches above 10,000 feet. In either case there’s enough snow to avalanche resulting in a burial or serious injury. Treat all avalanche terrain as though it was mid-winter: carry rescue gear, travel with a partner and only place one person at a time on a slope. This advice applies to everyone: skiers, climbers, snowmobilers and hunters.
We will begin issuing danger ratings once we get more snowfall. In the meantime, we will update this information as conditions change. We need your observations, so please drop us a line at mtavalanche@gmail.com if you get out.
mtavalanche.com Website
We are making a few changes to our weather page. Although most of the stations are up and running, it’ll be another week before we get things posted in a new graphical and numerical format.
Rescue Volunteers Needed
Gallatin County Search and Rescue's Winter Backcountry Hasty team is having an orientation for new and established members on November 23rd (1830hrs) at the SAR building at the SE corner of the fairgrounds. This group responds to winter backcountry SAR events and requires excellent winter backcountry and avalanche skills. If you would like to join, please contact Scott at helialpha@gmail.com.
AVALANCHE EDUCATION
A complete calendar of classes can be found HERE.
November 17, 6 p.m.: Billings, Avalanche Awareness at Basecamp.
November 18, 6 p.m.: Bozeman, Avalanche Awareness at MSU Roskie Hall
November 18, 7 p.m.: Big Sky, Avalanche Awareness at Grizzly Outfitters.
November 19, 7 p.m.: Big Timber, Avalanche Awareness at Sweet Grass County High School
MSU - Introduction to Avalanches with Field Course
Workshops are held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with a field course on Saturday. Different topics are presented each evening. Topics include: avalanche terrain recognition, the affect weather has on avalanche hazard, the development of the mountain snowpack, decision making skills, and basic search and rescue procedures.
December 2, 3 and 5 or 6, 2015: https://www.ticketriver.com/event/16858
West Yellowstone: Snowmobiler Introduction to Avalanches with Field Course
Five hours of lectures are followed by a full day field course. Topics include: avalanche terrain recognition, the affect weather has on avalanche hazard, the development of the mountain snowpack, decision making skills, and basic search and rescue procedures.
December 17 and 18, 2015: https /www.ticketriver.com/event/17356