Bulletin d’avalanche

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Wed
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
1 · Faible
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 5 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

You can enjoy riding the recent snow on most terrain with one glaring exception - steep, upper-elevation, leeward slopes. On these slopes, recently-formed slabs of drifted snow may remain sensitive to a rider's weight. Debris from surface slabs or falling cornices may also trigger very large avalanches that release on deeply buried weak layers that linger in this terrain.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–2

    Dense slabs of drifted snow may remain sensitive to a rider's weight today. You're most likely to find these on steep, upper elevation slopes where Monday's winds blew snow over ridges and into steep, shaded start zones.  The problem is likely most widespread near the crests of the Swan and Flathead Ranges, and the high summits of the northern Whitefish Range. Sunday night's storm favored these ares, so there was more snow for Monday's winds to drift.

    Likely candidates are slopes capped by cornices and those with dune-shaped drifts or pillowy snow surfaces.  Use small, inconsequential test slopes with a spotter to assess the sensitivity of recent and drifted snow. If you see shooting cracks or trigger small avalanches, know that conditions are ripe for triggering on slopes with similar characteristics. Isolated slopes may have drifted snow crossloaded into gullies, and a few slabs may exist in mid-elevation terrain.

    Loose Dry: In terrain sheltered from the wind, or on previously sunbaked slopes, you may see a loose dry avalanche problem. Utilize defensive riding strategies by allowing your sluff to run next to you, not over you. Sluffs may travel far and fast on previously formed crusts

    (3/28/2026)

    A steep, leeward slope capped by a cornice. As evidenced by the crown below, terrain like this can harbor dense slabs of drifted snow. 

    Photo: Flathead Avalanche Center

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Unlikely
    Taille
    2–3

    Steep, upper-elevation leeward slopes remain a refugia for the Persistent Slab avalanche problem that's haunted our region the past two months. This terrain is where the January Drought Layer is most likely to remain dry and well-preserved. It's also the terrain with the largest potential triggers - debris from slabs of drifted snow or falling cornices. No sense going into the cave to find out the hard way that sabre-toothed tigers haven't gone extinct. 

    You can further reduce your exposure to this unlikely but deadly hazard by minimizing your time under steep start zones capped by cantilevered cornices, and by avoiding slopes with snowpacks that very in thickness. Terrain peppered by rocks and drifts of wind-blown snow are surface clues to this variability. Thin patches of snow cover can be trigger points for these very large avalanches. 

    (3/30/2026)

    Terrain to avoid: steep, leeward, upper elevation slopes capped by cornices and marked by the crown of an avalanche that released on a deeply buried weak layer (likely about March 20). Aeneas Ridge, March 30.

Avalanche Discussion

This week - our last week of daily forecast for the 2025-26 winter - we’re highlighting people, teams, and organizations that have contributed notably to Flathead Avalanche’s work and products, and supported the forecast team through a challenging and hopefully unusual winter. 

Jenny Cloutier, Executive Director of the Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center (FOFAC), is first up. If you’ve been to a FOFAC event, you’ve been greeted by well-organized posters, banners, and merch, and her smile. Jenny is the logistics mastermind who makes these events welcoming. She’s also got an indefatigable energy for smoothing out behind-the-scenes systems, for creating partnerships, and for sleuthing out funding opportunities. 

Much of what makes Jenny so effective is her deep experience with snow and avalanches. She’s been involved with Flathead Avalanche for over fifteen years, has taught avalanche courses at multiple levels, worked as a ski patroller at WMR, serves on the board of the Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol, and is a Professional Member of the American Avalanche Association. She’s a snow worker who understands how to make things happen for snow workers. 

Corrie Holloway, FOFAC’s Communications Manager, also uses her professional experience as a Dispatcher for the ski patrol at WMR to  quietly coordinate Flathead Avalanche’s social media and outreach efforts. She anticipates when the forecast team will have urgent safety messages, publicizes events, and helps the so-not-online forecast team produce effective videos and messages. Her sharp eye for colors and design keeps Flathead Avalanche's products looking good.

Thanks, Jenny and Corrie! The forecast team's efforts wouldn't go nearly so far without your dedication and work organizing and publicizing events and avalanche safety!

Régions couvertes