Saturday, January 1st, 2005 Good morning and happy New Year. This is Scott Schmidt with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued Saturday, January 1st, at 7:30 a.m. Team Bozeman and Polaris, in cooperation with The Friends of the Avalanche Center, sponsor todays advisory. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas. AVALANCHE WARNING The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center is issuing a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the Gallatin and Madison Ranges south of Big Sky, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range in northern Yellowstone National Park. New snow over the last few days has been deposited on an extremely 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. MOUNTAIN WEATHER The mountains of southwest Montana bring in the New Year with a fresh coat of snow. Amounts increase from north to south, with 2 inches in the Bridger Range, and 10 inches in the Lionhead area. The mountains around Cooke City picked up 4 inches. Winds which have been southeast have switched to southwest, blowing 15 25 mph, and mountain temperatures are in the teens this morning. Cloudy skies and snow showers will continue today, with an additional 1 3 inches of accumulation in the southern mountains. Winds will remain southwesterly at 15 25 mph, with temperatures in the teens at 9000 ft. SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION The Bridger Range: The new snow that fell in the Bridger Range produced very exciting avalanche conditionsfor about an hour. The new snow had a high density and was very slab-like. The Bridger Ski Patrol triggered many slab avalanches with ski cuts Thursday morning, but the snow stabilized quickly, and was un-reactive by afternoon. With very little new snow yesterday, the concern is recently wind- loaded slopes. Remember, the wind has been blowing the wrong way for the past 24 hours so look for drifting in places you dont expect it. Today, the avalanche danger in the Bridger Range is CONSIDERABLE on wind- loaded slopes. Non-wind- loaded slopes have a MODERATE danger. The northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges: A regular observer was in Middle Basin, just north of Big Sky, yesterday. He did several stability tests and reported failures on both the layer of facets that resides in the upper snowpack and the older layer that is near the ground. A second party reported similar signs of instability in this area and limited their skiing to low angle terrain. Because the northern mountains have not received a large load, the snowpack is not as sensitive as it is further south, but there is still a good chance you could be caught in an avalanche if you are not careful. Today, the avalanche danger in these mountains remains CONSIDERABLE on all slopes. The southern Gallatin, southern Madison, and Washburn Ranges, and the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, and the mountains around Cooke City: Fifteen to twenty inches of snow has fallen in the southern mountains this past week and it is very unstable. Doug was in the Lionhead area yesterday where the new snow was collapsing and cracking under and around his sled as he rode. While he and his partner where standing on flat ground, the snowpack collapsed under their weight, triggering a steep slope 50 feet away. This same instability exists in the mountains around Cooke City where a snowmachiner was buried yesterday. Fortunately, his head and arm where exposed and he was recovered uninjured. Last we know, their still looking for his sled. The snowpack instability is at the interface between the old snow surface and the new snow that has fallen in the past several days. For today, the avalanche danger is HIGH on all slopes in the southern mountains. This is the day to enjoy all the powder that can be found on low angle terrain. Stay off the steeps. Theyll be there to play on another day. Hopefully, so will you.