Lawinenlagebericht

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Tue
Hochgebirge
1 · Gering
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 7 months ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Your chances of triggering avalanches continue to diminish. The potential size of triggered slides is also decreasing. Other travel hazards - like long slides on slick surfaces - linger.  

Lawinenprobleme

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Unlikely
    Größe
    1.5–2

    Precautions, safeguards, back-ups, fail-safes - words that describe things you don't plan to use yet limit the consequences of mistakes or unexpected events. Sunscreen, seatbelts, airbags, and insurance are all examples. So are snowmobile helmets, avalanche beacons, avalanche airbags, checking a slope for a clean runout, riding one at a time, and keeping an eye on your partners.

    Keep up the precautions and safeguards today. Slopes where the snow surface isn't a refrozen crust are slopes where the chances of triggering avalanches linger. These would break several feet deep, on old snow near crusts, and would involve enough snow to bury you or drag you into/over/ through hard things that hurt. 

    Most of these slopes are at upper elevations - above about 6500 feet. In colder parts of the forecast region - like the northern Whitefish Range - you may find them as low as 6000 feet. Note that old hard wind slabs at upper elevations may be supportable but not have a refrozen surface. These slabs may be the ones most able to propagate a collapse and fracture, so give these a second or third thought before committing to steep slopes where you find them. 

Avalanche Discussion

Lemonade out of lemons, positive outlook, always look on the bright side of life... attitudes getting taxed during this extended dry, cold weather. But one upside is that the slabs above the layers of concern are deteriorating. The number of slopes where you can trigger a slide is diminishing, and the potential size of any triggered slides that do occur is decreasing. 

It's a situation that calls for being alert for the possible exceptions - slopes where there's no refrozen surface that supports your weight or the weight of you and your machine. Many of these will have a few inches to a foot or more of soft, sandy-feeling snow at the surface. Others may involve remnant wind slabs that are hard but not icy. Not all of these will avalanche with your weight. You can roll the dice, or you can dig into the snowpack and test for propagation potential with large column tests like an ECT or PST. Fractures that extend across the column or ahead of your saw should send you scurrying back to slopes that are less steep or capped with a refrozen snow surface. These may harbor their own hazards, like long slides, but they are more predictable.

Thanks to the intrepid souls who have submitted observations after discouraging, sometimes soul-crushing, attempts to find good riding. And to the folks that are maximizing this dry spell by taking avalanche education classes. 

Educational opportunities:

1/29 and 1/31: Ladies human powered Introduction to Avalanches. Find out more here.

2/9 to 2/15: Motorized Level 2 Avalanche Course. Find out more here.

2/21: Human-powered Rescue Refresh Clinic. Find out more here.

2/26 and 2/28: Human-powered Introduction to Avalanches. Find out more here.

Submit your observations for a chance to win an ORTOVOX probe and shovel!

  • Open to all motorized riders (snowmobiles and snowbikes).
  • One obs per day, as many days/month as you can get.
  • Monthly drawing on the first of each month.
  • This month's prizes donated by @JESCOMontana

 

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