Doug, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, received his B.A. in Outdoor Education from Prescott College in 1986. From 1990 to 1999 he worked as a professional ski patroller at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman, Montana. Starting part-time in 1995, and moving to full-time in 1998, Doug has worked for the GNFAC as an avalanche specialist. He's worked as a professional mountain guide in Alaska and the western US from 1989 to the present. During the summers Doug has worked work as a consultant for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Doug has been on 16 Alaskan climbing expeditions as well as climbs in Nepal, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
dougchabot
Forming Tomorrow’s Avalanche
From Tuesday's avalanche advisory:
Surface hoar and facets formed on almost all aspects and elevations of our advisory area (see multiple photos here). From Big Sky to West Yellowstone (and possibly Cooke City) it just got preserved under 1-2 inches of snow.
Counting The Inches
We tallied up all the new snow and it looks impressive. 20+ inches of dense snow in the mountains. There's a settled base of almost 30 inches which is mighty nice for this time of year. We've already heard of a few avalanches near Frazier Lake and Sacajawea Peak in the Bridgers, but these involved new snow. In other words, the slides are not breaking at the ground. So far so good. A solid base of hard snow bodes well for the winter. Chilly temps near zero are forecasted for the weekend, so we'll have to wait and see what changes that brings to the snow pack. Stay tuned...