Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 Good morning. This is Scott Schmidt with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Saturday, March 3rd, at 7:30 a.m. The Big Sky Ski Patrol, in cooperation with the Friends of the Avalanche Center, sponsor todays advisory. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas. MOUNTAIN WEATHER No new snow fell in our advisory area yesterday. Winds have increased this morning, blowing 15 35 mph from the northwest, and mountain temperatures are in the single digits at upper elevations. A weak system to the north of our area will bring cloudy skies and scattered showers to southwest Montana today. There is not much moisture associated with this system and accumulations wont amount to more then an inch. The exception might be the Bridger Range where the strong northerly flow could produce a little magic. Cross your fingers. Winds will remain northerly at 15 30 mph and mountain temperatures will be in the upper-teens at 9000 feet. SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION The Bridger, Gallatin, Madison, and Washburn Ranges, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, and The mountains around Cooke City: I was on the east side of the Bridger Range south of Bridger Bowl yesterday. My partner and I found good stability at the new snow interface on both east and south facing aspects. We saw no significant natural avalanche activity and felt we comfortable skiing steep slopes. The west side of the range is a whole other story. When skies cleared in the afternoon I got a chance to see the avalanche that two skiers triggered last Wednesday in the Trumann Gulch drainage. The crown line was still clearly visible even after 36 inches of new snow fell Thursday. This was a huge slide and it is amazing that the two individuals that triggered it came out alive. Oh well, as the saying goes, if you cant be good be lucky. Ridge top winds are picking up in the Bridger Range this morning and there is a lot of snow available for transport. It is unlikely that these winds will produce natural avalanche activity today but human triggered avalanche are like on steep wind-loaded slopes. In addition, all steep slopes on the west side of the range should be avoided. The Big Sky Ski Patrol ski triggered several avalanches on recently wind-loaded slopes yesterday. They also reported several natural avalanches that released in wind-loaded areas on Cedar Mt. The GNF Snow Rangers were in upper Teepee Creek yesterday. They were able to trigger several small avalanches on recently wind-loaded slopes. All the slides they reported ran in the recent snow and did not break on a layer of surface that is buried 2 4 feet deep in these mountains. This buried layer is still a concern given the large amount of snow that has fallen in the southern mountains in the past two weeks. All steep slopes in the mountains around West Yellowstone should be approached with caution. A faceted layer of snow, sitting on an ice crust, is buried 2 3 feet deep in the mountains around Cooke City. This weak layer is most prominent on slope with a southerly aspect. Several human-triggered avalanches occurred on this layer last weekend. South-facing slopes in these mountains should be avoided. Today, the avalanche danger in the Bridger, Gallatin, Madison, and Washburn Ranges, The Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, and the mountains around Cooke City is CONSIDERABLE on all slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Slopes that are less steep have a MODERATE danger.