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Bridger Range   Madison Range   Gallatin Range  

Lionhead area near West Yellowstone   Cooke City

This slide was spotted on Wednesday (12/11) on a west facing slope above Goose Lake near Cooke City. It was 6 feet at it's deepest. Other slides on other aspects were seen as well. Photo: A. Steckmest

This slide occurred on Hardscrabble Peak in the northern Bridger Range. Skiers were removing climbing skins from their skis at the red "X" when it occurred. They are not sure if they triggered it or not. They also reported very strong winds blowing from the north that were moving lots of snow and loading southerly facing slopes. Photo: A. Blessing

This slide was triggered by a skier only 200 ft below the Bridger Ridge on the west side of the range which is NOT part of the ski area. It was a west facing slope. He found many stiff wind slabs resting on very weak facets, a perfect combination for avalanches. He also experienced lots of collapsing and cracking. Photo: A. Whitmore

This slide was triggered by the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol. It did not fracture over a wide area, but it broke deep in the snowpack. Last week's -20F weather weakened the snowpack making these slides possible. Photo: P. Clayton

These remotely triggered avalanches had a fracture that occurred across 900 feet in non-wind loaded snow with a very very soft slab. This was very surprising and a warning sign of more avalanches and bigger avalanches when more snow and wind comes. Photo: GNFAC

Six individual avalanches were triggered at the same time on this ESE facing slope in the Third Yellowmule drainage from low angle terrain about 900 ft away. These are called remotely triggered avalanches. While they are small and none would bury you, they are a major warning sign because they show the ability of weak facets near the ground to fracture over long distances. When we get more snow and wind, we will get more avalanches and bigger avalanches. Photo: GNFAC

These two slides were triggered remotely by snowmobilers riding in the trees above the Beaver Creek drainage along Buck Ridge near Big Sky. These slides were similar to ones triggered in 3rd Yellowmule. Photo: GNFAC

Northern Gallatin Range