Sunday, December 29th, 2002 Good morning, this is Scott Schmidt with your Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Sunday, December 29th, at 7:30 am. Todays advisory is sponsored by Polaris and Team Bozeman in conjunction with The Friends Of The Avalanche Center. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas. AVALANCHE WARNING The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center is issuing a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for our southern mountains. The warning includes the southern Madison and southern Gallatin Range, the mountains around West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range in northern Yellowstone National Park. In the last 48 hour, approximately one to two feet of new snow has fallen in these areas. In addition to the new snow, winds have been blowing from the west to southwest. This new snow has been deposited on a weak snowpack. For today, the avalanche danger is considered HIGH on all slopes. Areas of unstable snow exist! Both natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. Avalanche terrain and runout zones should be avoided. WEATHER It snowed in the southern mountains most of yesterday with additional accumulations of 4 8 inches in the Lionhead and Cooke City areas. The no-snow nightmare continues for the rest of our area, which received little or nothing. Winds have been blowing 20 30 mph from the southwest and temperatures remain warm with overnight lows in the 20s. Unfortunately for us powder pigs, things will dry out today as the storm system moves east. There is some chance for mountain showers later today as the tail end of the system moves through our area, but dont hold your breath, it wont amount to much. Ridge top winds will continue to blow 20 30 mph from the southwest and temperatures will cool down with mountain highs in the 30s and overnight lows in the teens. SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION The Bridger Range The Bridgers received no new snow from this system. Winds, which have been blowing 20 30 mph, have little to transport except dirt. Caution is still warranted in wind- loaded areas because of the relative weak snowpack, but yesterdays warm temperatures will help to stabilize recently deposited wind slabs. For today, in the Bridger Range, I consider the avalanche danger to be MODERATE on all slopes. Remember, a moderate avalanche danger means that it is possible to trigger an avalanche so use caution as you go about your recreational business today. The northern Gallatin, and northern Madison Ranges: Yesterdays storm system did not deposit any significant accumulation in the northern Madison or Gallatin Ranges. Winds continue to be brisk but there is not much left to transport after Fridays big wind event. With 48 hours to adjust to the new wind deposits, the snowpack should be stabilizing somewhat. Somewhat is a relative term meaning things are a little more stable then yesterday but still scary! Given the underlying weakness of the snowpack in this area, you should be absolutely terrified of any steep wind- loaded slope. For today, for the northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges, I consider the avalanche danger to be CONSIDERABLE on all wind loaded slopes and MODERATE elsewhere. The southern Gallatin, southern Madison, and Washburn Ranges, the mountains around Cooke City and the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone: I headed down to Lionhead yesterday where my partner and I found surprisingly good riding in 6 8 inches of dense, creamy new snow. Dense and creamy means heavy, and our stability tests showed that the weak snow near the ground was not happy about the new load it has been forced to bare. The high instability of this weak layer was illustrated in Cooke City yesterday when a 17-year-old North Dakota man was caught in an avalanche that completely buried him. The young man was with a group of four other riders, none of which carried rescue gear. It is a story as old as the sport of high marking. The young man got stuck high on the slope, which was triggered when his well-meaning partner rode up to help him. Luck was with the buried man who was located in approximately 15 20 minutes by other riders in the area using avalanche probes. He was not breathing but was revived after 3 rescue breaths. Based on the results of my stability tests in Lionhead, and the additional accumulations of around 4 8 inches of snow since yesterday, I would be very nervous to venture into avalanche terrain in the southern mountains. For today, an avalanche warning remains in effect for the southern Gallatin, southern Madison, and Washburn Ranges, the mountains around Cooke City, and the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, where the avalanche danger is HIGH on all slopes. I will issue the next advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. If you get out into the backcountry we would appreciate hearing about the snowpack conditions that you find. You can leave a message at 587-6984 or email us at gnfac@avalanche.org.