Lawinenlagebericht

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Fri
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 6 months ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Triggering a 2 to 3-foot deep avalanche large enough to bury and kill a person is likely. Avalanches can be triggered from a distance and can break thousands of feet wide. Avoid traveling on or below steep slopes.

In the past week, we’ve received four reports of riders being caught, carried, partially or fully buried in avalanches. Allow that information to shape your decision-making today.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    2–3

    Triggering a deadly avalanche on north- to east-facing slopes is likely. Avalanches are breaking 2 to 3 feet deep and propagating wide distances. Many recent avalanches are also being triggered remotely. This means you can be riding on flat terrain and trigger an avalanche that crashes down on top of you.

    The only way to manage this problem is by avoiding it. Traveling on low-angle slopes free of overhead hazard is one way to manage the problem. Another way is to ride on south and west aspects where the weak layer does not exist. Give yourself plenty of space between you and steep terrain. 

    (2/18/2026)

    A group of snowmobilers remotely-triggered this avalanche. They also triggered a 2 to 3 foot slide that broke over 1000 feet wide. Conditions today will be no different than yesterday. 

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–2

    If you head to south- and west-facing aspects to avoid the persistent slab avalanche problem, keep your eyes out for wind-drifted snow. Moderate to strong winds blew out of the north and east yesterday (Wednesday). East winds are notorious for channeling through terrain features and transporting snow in unusual ways.

    Signs to watch out for are dune-shaped drifts, pillowy-looking surfaces, and textured surfaces. Feel what's beneath your feet or machine. If you begin to feel dense snow or hard over soft snow, you’ve found a wind slab. Cracking around your boards or machine is another sign you've found a wind slab. Slabs will be more common just downwind of ridgelines and saddles. Seek out riding on slopes with soft snow. 

    (2/18/2026)

    A dense slab of wind-drifted snow released by a ski cut. Notice the wind-tectured surface in the foreground. 

Avalanche Discussion

Words I’ve heard and used to describe this snowpack: unusual, deadly, lethal, scary, spooky. A rider who triggered a 1200+ foot wide avalanche from flat terrain yesterday wrote: “This is the most reactive snowpack I've seen in this region in a long time. Be careful out there.” A person who was caught and carried in a large avalanche on Monday wrote, “I was honestly surprised at the speed and ferocity of this slide.” These words and experiences should guide our decision-making today. 

Conditions are truly unusual. I’ve personally not seen a weak layer remain this sensitive to human triggers for this long. A constant stream of human-triggered avalanches has occurred since it was buried at the end of January (this chart shows the distribution of persistent slab avalanches since then). Typically, we see avalanche activity decrease as the weak layer is buried deeper. This one is not the case. Unfortunately, the size of avalanches being triggered is only getting larger and more dangerous. We do not anticipate conditions to improve in the near future.

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