GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE ADVISORY MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1997 Good morning , this is Ron Johnson with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Monday, December 8th, 1997 at 7:30 AM. This advisory expires at midnight. The next advisory will be issued Wednesday morning. Today's advisory is sponsored by the Friends of the Avalanche Center with a matching grant from the National Forest Foundation. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas. Bridger Bowl is not open, therefore, backcountry conditions exist even within the ski area boundaries. It looks as though a dusting of snow fell in the southern part of our area, during the past 24 hours. SNOTEL sites, operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, show that the mountains around West Yellowstone received about 1-2 inches of new snow. There will be some moisture, associated with a decent storm that is currently heading into Utah, moving into our area during the day. Now before you get too excited......there isn't much energy associated with this moisture so I don't anticipate any major accumulations of new snow. By tomorrow morning, the mountains could get 1-4 inches. Today, ridgetop winds should start from the west and then switch to the northwest later today. Speeds should be about 10-20 mph. Mountain temperatures should reach the 20's to 30's, before cooling later today. A look in the "crystal ball" indicates that by Wednesday a ridge of high pressure will become established over the western United States, which means our weather will more than likely be cool and dry. It has been over a week since our area has received any significant accumulations of snow and it has been about a week since we have had any major wind events. It is not surprising that it has also been about a week since we have had any significant avalanche activity reported in southwest Montana. Just because there hasn't been any recent avalanche activity, doesn't mean that a weak snowpack doesn't exist. I'm still getting reports of collapsing of the snowpack, as well as reports of snowpack conditions which include layers of weak, sugary snow. Even though, the avalanche danger has improved during the past several days, I'm still concerned about some of the steeper slopes that have recent deposits of wind slab on top of weak faceted snow and slopes that have a weak buried layer of faceted snow that exits near the ground. So, FOR TODAY, FOR THE BRIDGER, GALLATIN, MADISON AND WASHBURN RANGES, THE LIONHEAD AREA NEAR WEST YELLOWSTONE AND FOR THE MOUNTAINS AROUND COOKE CITY, I CONSIDER THE AVALANCHE DANGER TO BE MODERATE ON SLOPES STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES AND MOSTLY LOW ON LESS STEEP SLOPES. Depending on how much new and wind transported snow accumulates during the next couple of days, the avalanche danger on some slopes could increase. Mainly due to the fact the new snow will be falling on a snow surface that is comprised of "fluffy" faceted snow. You can keep track of changing snowpack conditions, by digging several snowpits and looking for any layers of cohesive snow that are on top of any layers of loose, soft snow. Remember, even during periods of low or moderate avalanche danger, avalanches are possible and you need to ride, slide and hike with caution. The Friends of the Avalanche Center and Jason Schutz are sponsoring a showing of the new ski and snowboarding film "The Harvest", on Tuesday, December 9th, at the SUB Ballroom at MSU. It costs $6 to get in the door and tickets are being sold at Cactus, Barrel Mountaineering, and Northern Lights. With each entrance you get a free raffle ticket. You can get more tickets by buying them or by donating cans of food to the food bank. There will be a great group of prizes raffled off, so make sure you come check it out! The next advisory will be issued Wednesday morning by about 7:30 AM. Advisories are issued every morning except Tuesdays. If you have any recent snowpack or avalanche observations to pass on, give us a call at 587-6984 or log onto our internet home page and drop us an e-mail. This advisory is also available on a recorded message at 587-6981 in Bozeman, 646-7912 in West Yellowstone, and 838-2341 in Cooke City, and from the web at http://www.gomontana.com/avalanche or http://www.csac.org. END