Enough to shred, enough to slide

Pulled this advisory from the Gallatin National Forest Website (here). It’s a great resource for avalanche info. And this advisory is good food for thought in the early season. And some fodder for day dreaming.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2008

Good Morning. This is Doug Chabot with the season?s first Avalanche Information Bulletin from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center issued at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 12th. We will keep updating you on snowpack and avalanche information as conditions warrant.

AVALANCHE/WEATHER/SNOWPACK INFORMATION:

If there?s enough snow to ski, there?s enough snow to avalanche.

There you have it?an early season advisory in 11 words.

Since Friday morning about 24 inches has fallen in southwest Montana. Snotel sites (found here: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Montana/montana.html ) are showing about half that amount outside West Yellowstone and Cooke City. With temperatures holding in the low teens, wind speeds have been 10-25 mph out of the northeast, which will definitely create wind slabs at the higher elevations.

WHAT TO DO:

Treat your early season skiing excursions with the same diligence and preparation you?d use mid-winter. Carry rescue gear, travel with a partner and only travel one at a time in avalanche terrain. Wind slabs could easily be 1-2 feet thick with limb busting consequences if you get caught.

Over the next few weeks we?ll be paying close attention to how this new snow changes. If the temperatures stay cold and the storms stop the snow will turn into faceted crystals?angular flakes of snow that could create a very weak and unstable base for the rest of the winters storms. At the moment it?s just guesswork, like the recent political polls, or the stability of Wall Street. It could go either way.