TUESDAY, JANUARY 29

 Good morning. This is Doug Chabot with the Gallatin National Forest
 Avalanche Advisory issued on Tuesday, January 29th, at 7:30 a.m. The
 Greater Yellowstone Coalition, in cooperation with the Friends of the
 Avalanche Center, sponsor todays advisory. This advisory does not
 apply to operating ski areas.


 MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 If you were outside yesterday, you felt itthe temperatures quickly
 plummeted midday to 0F, where they still remain. Since yesterday
 morning the northern mountains got 4-5 inches of new snow. The
 southern Madison and Gallatin Ranges picked up 6-8 inches while Cooke
 City got 4-6 inches. Mountain temperatures will rise into the double
 digits as winds increase out of the west to 20-40 mph before dying
 down tonight. Temperatures will once again dip to zero overnight and
 under cloudy skies I expect another 2-4 inches falling by morning.


 SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION

 The Bridger Range:

 The Bridger Mountains picked up 5 inches of snow yesterday with
 westerly winds. This snow fell onto a relatively strong snowpack which
 was tested by some skiers on Sunday as they inadvertently dropped a
 huge cornice on Bridger Peak. Although the truck-sized cornice
 gouged down, it did not trigger a slide. We got a few reports
 of surface hoar crystals buried a foot under the surface which
 would create unstable conditions, but they seem very isolated.

 Surface hoar can fracture easily so its worth digging down
 with your ski pole or hand to make sure its not there before
 committing to a slope. Recent snow and wind continue to keep the
 avalanche danger on wind-loaded slopes CONSIDERABLE if they are
 steeper than 35 degrees and MODERATE on less steep. Slopes lacking any
 wind drifts will have a LOW danger.


 The northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges:

 The northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges have a weak,
 unstable layer of snow 1-2 feet off the ground. On Sunday, a dog was
 killed near Mt. Blackmore when she broke a cornice triggering an
 avalanche on the slope below. I toured into this area yesterday, but
 poor visibility prevented me from identifying this exact slope.

 Actually, yesterday was a bit of a junk show. My partners skins peeled
 off because he was too cheap to buy a new set for his shorter skis, my
 feet got chewed up and blistered in my new boots and we both froze
 like a bunch of light weights in the snowpit.


 However, we did see recent signs of avalanche activity as well as
 slopes stripped bare from the strong westerly winds last week. My
 partner and I ascended through thicker stands of trees to avoid the
 large avalanche paths. Our snowpit, dug on an east facing slope at
 9,500 feet, had a layer of faceted snow 60 cm (24 inches) off the
 ground which would fracture clean, but take a lot of force to
 break. I didnt trust it. We skied the lowest possible angled slope and
 stayed clear of the runout zones. A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger
 exists on anything wind-loaded as well as any slope steeper than 35
 degrees. All other slopes will have a MODERATE avalanche danger. As if
 things arent spicy enough, like the Bridger Range, weve gotten a
 handful of skiers finding buried surface hoar which would only
 make things worse.


 The southern Madison and southern Gallatin Ranges, the Lionhead area
 near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City, and the
 Washburn Range:

 The southern Madison Range got hit with close to 2 feet of snow and
 strong westerly winds over the last 48 hours. The weight of this snow
 is expressed as snow water equivalency, which totaled almost 2 inches
 of water. This is a lot of weight to add in a short period of time and
 it has adversely affected the snowpack stability. A thin layer of
 faceted snow 2-3 feet deep will be straining to support this new
 snow. The mountains outside Cooke City have only gotten about half the
 load of the Lionhead area, but its still enough new snow to elevate
 the avalanche danger. I expect you will see natural avalanches on
 steep slopes in our southern mountains today. Consequently, the
 avalanche danger is rated HIGH on all slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

 Less steep slopes will have a CONSIDERABLE danger if they are
 wind-loaded, while those elusive slopes not affected by the wind will
 have a MODERATE danger.