23-24

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>We issued an Avalanche Warning for the second day in a row in Island Park because it keeps snowing. Although the daily amounts are measured in inches, they add up. Since Saturday, 1.4” of snow water equivalent fell, measuring over a foot of snow. Avalanches will be easily triggered and getting caught could be deadly, especially if you are trapped in a gully with snow piling on top of you. Our advice is simple: don’t get into or underneath any avalanche terrain today. Avalanches can be triggered from hundreds of feet away. The avalanche danger is rated HIGH on all slopes. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In the southern mountains, slopes that have more snow (more weight) are the most worrisome. We find this on slopes that were previously wind-loaded. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><em><span>Typically, wind-loads stabilize quickly, but the snowpack is not typical, it is wickedly fragile.</span></em></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span> Even though the wind has been calm, wind drifts formed over the weekend should not be touched and can be found at ridgelines and in gullies.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>Incremental loading, an inch or two every day, is also not typically a problem, except this year.</span></em></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span> Collapsing, cracking and triggering slides from far away is as likely today as it was yesterday. Take a peek at the </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/avalanche-activity"><span><span><span><stro… activity log</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span> to see how a small amount of snow can produce avalanches. On Sunday, Dave and Alex triggered a slide at Lionhead (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSked07bAY8&amp;lc=UgwOJBQp1Ujv-9h17St4…;) and similar avalanches could occur today. Reports of folks tip-toeing around Cooke City amongst a sea of collapses and cracks makes my palms sweat.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The bottom 2 feet of the snowpack is garbage: sugary facets and a couple layers of surface hoar. I recommend staying off slopes steeper than 30 degrees and be extra careful traveling under slopes. The avalanche danger is HIGH on previously wind-loaded slopes and CONSIDERABLE on all others.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Yesterday, Dave and I went into the </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/13952"><span><span><span><span><span><…; in the northern Bridger Range. The conditions we found were expected and also similar to the northern mountain ranges: weak and unstable. We did not need to do a stability test because the collapses were numerous and loud and indicated that we could trigger a slide from hundreds of feet away (aka remote trigger).&nbsp; In the last few days, skiers remotely triggered </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30123"><span><span><span><strong><span… Mountain</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>,&nbsp; </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30129"><span><span><span><strong><span… Peak</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, and Dave remotely triggered a slide from 750 feet away (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://youtu.be/jDOAJ1yGmGk"><span><span><span><strong><span><u><span>…;) on his snowmobile at Buck Ridge. Not far from the Throne, a lone skier triggered a large avalanche on Saddle Peak on Sunday (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30161"><span><span><span><strong><span… and photos</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>). Collapsing, cracking, a small slide on the Throne triggered Sunday by a few wet snowballs, and nervousness about triggering the slope above us made our decision to retreat an easy one (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/ZaeaIBk64uM?feature=share"><span><span><span…;). Further south in Beehive Basin, students in an avalanche class were able to take advantage of the unstable conditions and intentionally triggered a small test slope (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/30216"><span><span><span><strong><span… and pics</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>).&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>If you go into avalanche terrain it’s likely you’ll trigger a slide today. Consequently, the avalanche danger is rated CONSIDERABLE. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>