I'm dreaming of fresh and stable powder when the alarm cuts through the early morning silence like a buzz saw. I quickly roll over and check my phone.
It's 3:15 a.m.
There is no hitting snooze for fear that I'll fall back into the grip of sleep. I will myself out of bed to start my day.
Published in the April 2015 issue of The Avalanche Review.
Lynne Wolfe, editor of TAR, asked me to jot a few thoughts down on how we manage surface hoar once it is buried. This is the email I sent back to her.
The GNFAC is looking for an intern for the 2024-'25 winter season. Application deadline is April 5, 2024.
I just got back from a dawn patrol ski tour in the Bridgers! Yesterday’s snowstorm dumped heaps of snow at the higher elevations and the skiing was the better than I ever would have guessed.
Ok, I’m joking. But admit it, you got a little excited, didn’t you?
After the two snowmobiler avalanche fatalities on Reas Peak in the Centennial Range in January 2018 we created a webpage so riders could get good, relevant information regarding snowpack and avalanches. Although the Centennial Range is not part of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center's forecast area, we are the closest avalanche center and have valuable information to share.
By Doug Chabot
Published in the February 2015 issue of The Avalanche Review.
As an avalanche forecaster and educator I pay close attention to teaching the recreating public about heuristic traps, aka human-factors, and their role in avalanche accidents. A powerful voice is Powder Magazine’s riveting five-part Human-Factors series which did a great job of pointing out those traps.
The Pit Stop - Dig and Communicate
Snow ties the backcountry community together, sometimes it ties us to avalanches. Taking the time to dig a snowpit and assess snow stability provides valuable information and generates conversation between group members. Good communication leads to better decision making in avalanche terrain.
by Alex Marienthal
Spring is here with longer days and a more predictable snowpack to facilitate objectives that are steeper and farther. These objectives are possible while maintaining a personally acceptable level of avalanche risk. However, these objectives can mean more exposure to other hazards like exposed terrain and prolonged rescue, which increases the consequences of relatively small accidents. The snowpack structure is changing from cold, dry layers to warm, wet and icy layers. This transition creates a fresh mix of avalanche problems.
Cooke City has a deep slab problem: a 7+ foot thick snowpack resting on a layer of facets. This recipe might be a preview for the rest of our forecast area since there are still months of winter left. I tried to explain the problem with the analogy below. A proper, technical definition can be found on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center's website.
DEEP SLAB INSTABILITY: an analogy
Published in December issue of SnoWest Magazine
Snowmobilers die in avalanches every winter, killed by trauma or suffocation, an extremely unpleasant way to breathe your last breath. In the last 10 years 93 snowmobilers in western America have been killed in avalanches. This is no surprise. We love to ride steep, open, mountainous slopes in avalanche terrain. If you play in the lion’s den you may get eaten, but as riders we don’t have to go into the den when the lion is hungry.
