avalanche

OFFICIAL & CONFIRMED details of yesterday's avalanche - A young man died Monday on the West side of the Bridger Mountains.

It has been reported by Q2 News that an avalanche this afternoon at Truman Gulch, on the west side of the Bridgers, has buried an unidentified man.

There are very few things in life where the phrase, "Practice makes perfect," doesn't ring true. When it comes to avalanche safety, practice is extremely important. The first time you try to use your transceiver shouldn't be during an emergency. Now there's a place in Bozeman set up for you to hone your skills.

Avalanche danger in and around Gallatin County is no joke. Even dogs can trigger slides, as seen in this photo from The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

Skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers rejoice. Area mountains have recieved anywhere from one to two feet of new snow for you to try all of your new toys out on. That also leads to considerable avalanche danger. Here's the latest advisory from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

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.

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...