FRIDAY, JANUARY 21st, 2000 Good morning this is Ron Johnson with your Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Friday, January 21st, at 7:30 am. Today's advisory is sponsored by the non-profit Friends of the Avalanche Center. This organization raises funding and generates community support so that we can continue to provide this public service. The next advisory will be issued tomorrow morning and these advisories do not apply to operating ski areas. During the past 24 hours, zippo new snow fell in most of our area. An exception was in the mountains around Cooke City, which received about 1-3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm). Today, southwest Montana will remain under the influence of a moist, westerly flow aloft. Cloudy skies with occasional snow showers should occur over much of our area. By tomorrow morning, I expect 1-3 inches of new snow could fall, with the higher amounts in the southern mountains. Mountain temperatures should remain in the 20's to low 30's F (-5 to 0 C). Ridgetop winds will continue to blow from the southwest to northwest at 10-20 mph. It looks as though the chance of snow will continue into tomorrow. It has been about four days since our area has had any significant wind or precipitation events. This lull in loading the snowpack has led to a steady decline in the reports of avalanche activity and collapsing of the snowpack. Earlier in the week (on Sunday and Monday) we received several reports of collapsing and cracking of the snowpack as well as reports of recent avalanche activity. Most of these reports came from the northern Gallatin and southern Madison Ranges. The most recent avalanche activity, reported to us, was from Big Sky on Wednesday. This report was of a large avalanche which the ski patrol released using explosives. The avalanche fractured on a steep, wind loaded slope. While I can't rule out the possibility of someone getting out and triggering an avalanche on a steep slope that was wind loaded earlier this week, I think that widespread and obvious signs of snowpack instability will be hard to see, hear or feel. And therein lies the problem. Because collapsing and cracking of the snowpack or recent avalanche activity may not be widespread or all that obvious, you may get lured into thinking that there is no avalanche danger. Don't fall into that state of mind. There is still a persistent weak layer of buried surface hoar or small grained faceted snow which could still fracture when weighted by a skier, snowboarder or snowmobiler. Because these weak layers are most prominent in the following areas.........FOR TODAY, FOR THE GALLATIN, MADISON AND WASHBURN RANGES, THE LIONHEAD AREA NEAR WEST YELLOWSTONE AND THE MOUNTAINS AROUND COOKE CITY, I CONTINUE TO CONSIDER THE AVALANCHE DANGER MODERATE ON RECENTLY WIND LOADED SLOPES STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES AND LOW ON MOST OTHER SLOPES. The Bridger Range was mostly spared from having the conditions which formed these weak layers and, unfortunately, has been spared from any significant amounts of recent snow........So, FOR TODAY, FOR THE BRIDGER RANGE, I CONSIDER THE AVALANCHE DANGER TO BE MOSTLY LOW. Please remember that a low avalanche danger doesn't mean no avalanche danger. Please use caution when cruising in the backcountry. On Monday the 24th, Supy Bullard and Georgie Stanley will present a slideshow titled "Seeking the Goddess" of their successful climb of the Himalayan giant Cho Oyu. This show is at 7:30 at MSU in SUB Ballroom D. The $5 admission is a benefit for the Friends of the Avalanche Center. Another noteworthy event is the Basic Avalanche Awareness Class being held on the evenings of January 26th and 27th with an all day field session on the 29th. This is being sponsored through ASMSU-Outdoor Rec and you can call 994-3621 for more details. Scott will issue tomorrow's advisory. If you get out and have any snowpack or avalanche information to pass on, please give us a call at 587-6984 or log onto our web site at www.mtavalanche.com END