On Sunday, February 6, Gallatin Country Sheriff Search and Rescue and the GNFAC responded to a avalanche in Lionhead. A snowmobiler was killed on a small steep slope when a shallow avalanche carried him into a terrain trap of trees. Photo: GNFAC
Small natural slides on 2/6/22 near Cooke City. @coldfear
We saw this natural avalanche on Feb 6, 2022 on the north side of Miller Mtn. near Cooke City. It appears to have broke near the end of the 10-14" snow storm that fell the prior day (2/5).
From obs 2/6/22: "Small natural soft slab avalanche on a SE aspect at 8737'... Crown was 20cm deep and approximately 15m wide... Around 10am"
We saw this natural avalanche on Feb 6, 2022 on the north side of Miller Mtn. near Cooke City. It appears to have broke near the end of the 10-14" snow storm that fell the prior day (2/5). Photo: GNFAC
On Feb 6, 2022 we rode north of Cooke City and found 10-14" of new snow and a layer of buried weak facets that created unstable conditions. This setup makes avalanches possible to trigger on steep slopes. In this pit we had an ECTP13 break on weak facets a couple inches below the new snow. Photo: GNFAC
From obs. 2/4/22: "...Also, we had one significant c collapse today on a mid elevation east as aspect A slope with just a touch of wind deposit. (first coll collapse e had in months!) The snow that collapsed appeared to be about 30-40' wide. And a hasty pit showed the layer of concern to be buried SH...."
From obs (2/4/22): "…the last 2 days was finding buried surface hoar in many locations, up to 10'000'..... And we also observed a fresh avalanche yesterday on the NW aspect of Meridian Peak. I couldn't discern a crown, due to our vantage point and a low cloud, but the debris pile looked relatively deep, and 12-48 hours fresh. Also, we had one significant collapse today on a mid elevation east aspect. A slope with just a touch of wind deposit.
