WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2

 Good morning. This is Doug Chabot with the Gallatin National Forest
 Avalanche Advisory issued on Wednesday, January 2nd, at 7:30 a.m. Big
 Sky Ski Patrol, in cooperation with the Friends of the Avalanche
 Center, sponsor todays advisory. This advisory does not apply to
 operating ski areas.


 MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 A ridge of high pressure brought sunny skies, light winds and no new
 snow. Today will be partly cloudy with south westerly winds increasing
 throughout the day to 20-35 mph. A temperature inversion is in place
 this morning with most locations at 9,000 feet reading the high 20s.

 This wont change much during the day, but will drop into the single
 digits tonight.


 SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION

 The Bridger Range:

 In the Bridger Range the winds created unstable wind slabs on the east
 side of the crest. Bridger Peak had a sizable natural avalanche
 release Monday night off the ridge. Smaller wind pockets to the north
 also avalanched, as did a few slopes in the Frasier/Sacajewea Bowl
 area on Saturday night and Sunday. Theres not much snow left on the
 west side to blow anywhere, and recent loading has subsided.

 Consequently, for today, the avalanche danger is MODERATE on
 wind-loaded slopes and LOW on all other terrain.


 The northern Gallatin Range and northern Madison Range:

 On Monday, in the northern Gallatin Range, I got wind slabs to crack
 on Mount Ellis. A skier on Mt Blackmore yesterday also got wind
 drifted terrain to cracka clear sign of instability. On Monday evening
 in the northern Madison Range, a natural avalanche on Fan Mtn and six
 others on Cedar Mtn released on steep, wind-loaded slopes. I snapped a
 picture of the Fan slide which I posted at

 My partner and I circumnavigated Lone Peak yesterday. During my 3 hour
 tour I saw the entire gamut: recent avalanche activity, cracking and
 collapsing, stable snow, powder, and breakable crust. Areas of thin
 snow cover had large grains of sugary, faceted snow which
 collapsed, cracked and prompting us to stay clear of anything steep. A
 Big Sky Ski Patroller ventured on to a 35-degree slope that was not
 wind-loaded near treeline and got cracks shooting out 2-300 feet in
 both directions. Luckily, not everything is gloom and doom. Although
 there are still instabilities lurking, there are also lots of slopes
 that are relatively stable and we found great skiing on north-facing
 terrain. Given the recent avalanche activity and variable conditions,
 for today, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on wind-loaded slopes
 steeper than 35 degrees. All other slopes will have a MODERATE
 avalanche danger.


 The southern Gallatin and southern Madison Ranges, including the
 Lionhead area near West Yellowstone:

 The snowpack in the southern Gallatin and Madison Ranges is gaining
 strength, but still has lingering problems. A layer of faceted
 snow buried 2 feet deep is found on many slopes and is responsible for
 avalanche activity last week. Today, Mark Staples and I are headed to
 Lionhead in order to further assess the snowpack. Given the recent
 winds, the avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE on wind-loaded slopes
 steeper than 35 degrees. All other slopes will have a MODERATE
 danger.


 The mountains around Cooke City, and the Washburn Range:

 Scott and his partner spent the weekend in Cooke City. They rode
 around trying not to get lost in the blizzard and managed to dig a few
 snowpits too. During breaks in the weather they saw a few avalanches,
 two of which were human triggered. All were on steep, wind-loaded
 slopes. Faceted snow near the ground is still breaking on steep
 slopes, although its getting stronger. For today, the avalanche danger
 on all slopes steeper than 35 degrees is MODERATE. Lower angled
 terrain will have a LOW avalanche danger.