GALLATIN NATIONAL NNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Most of our energy is spent teaching locally, however, we occasionally are invited to lecture
outside of Montana. It’s impossible to accept every invitation, but we like to broaden our
horizons by taking opportunities to teach in different areas. Being a small group of three, we try
to avoid the dangerous pitfall of tunnel vision. Traveling around and interacting with other
avalanche professionals is one way we keep ourselves flexible and open to new snow study
techniques.

Highlights included:

Q

Ron and Doug taught at the National Avalanche School for five days last fall. This was
held in Utah at The Canyons Resort and attended by over 200 ski patrollers, highway
workers, and recreation professionals. The instructor pool was a virtual “who's who” in
the avalanche world and allowed us to interact professionally with our peers from around
the country.

Scott went to Alaska for 4 days to help teach a Basic Avalanche Class for snowmobilers.
This was sponsored by the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, a premier avalanche
education center run by Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston. Scott created some new lectures
on snow dynamics and slab release that were tailored specifically for riders.

Ron was the guest lecturer at an avalanche class in Yellowstone National Park
sponsored by the Yellowstone Institute and American Avalanche School.

Doug went to Jackson, WY, to speak to the Western Chapter of the International
Snowmobile Association. He talked about avalanche awareness, and more specifically,
on how avalanche education for snowmobilers is evolving.

Doug taught two sessions at the Regional 1 Training Academy in Missoula on Avalanche
Awareness and Rescue. Forest Service personnel throughout Montana and Idaho
participated.

ARTICLES

Besides writing the daily advisories, we occasionally pen articles for local and national media.
Some of the articles we wrote were for specific user groups such as snowmobilers, but others
were for the general public.

Some articles included:

a

Qa

a

Doug wrote an article summarizing the avalanche season for the trade journal The
Avalanche Review.

Ron and Scott both wrote articles for snowmobilers every month in the Montana
Snowmobile Association Newsletter.

Doug authored six articles on avalanche safety in his “Snow Advisory” column in the
monthly Carve magazine published by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Copies of these articles are included at the end of the report in the “Newspaper and Magazine
Articles” section on page 45.

15



Tom Contreras To: Becki J Heath/R1/USDAFS@FSNOTES, Terry
. Knupp/R1/USDAFS @FSNOTES, John Knorr/R4/USDAFS @FSNOTES
109/02 05:35 PM 7
om 08:85 cc; Doug Chabot/R1/USDAFS@FSNOTES, Jim B
Miller WO/USDAFS @ FSNOTES
Subject: Snomobiler Avalanche Awareness and Education Program

Becki - Hi. | am the Winter Sports Specialist for the Intermountain Region. Last October | attended the
Annual Avalanche Centers meeting at Snowbasin Ski Area. Doug Chabot made a presentation to the
group of an avalanche education module he developed on CD and a training manual specifically for
snowmobilers . | was very impressed with his program that | felt it was important that this effort be shared
witht the Western Chapter of the International Snowmobile Association Members, Associates and State
Presidents. The Forest Service has had a difficult time over the last few years trying to present an
effective and acceptible avatanche education program that snowmobilers would embrace.

Iwas able to arrange for Doug to make his presentation to the group in February in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. Doug did an outstanding job! The group commented to me on Doug's enthusiasm, delivery,
understanding of the subject matter and his ability to present it in a simple, fun, yet informative manner.
Becki, the combination of Doug and his program is a Winner that is has long been needed for avalanche
education in the backcountry for snowmobilers. In the five years | have been working with International
Snowmobile Association | have not seen such an overwhelming acceptance of avalanche awareness and
education program from this group like | observed from Doug and his porgram.

There will be an International Snowmobile Congress in Vancover, B.C. in June. Approximately 2,000
members from the United States and Canada attend. | along with the members from the Western Chapter
would like to have Doug present his program to the membership. | will be working with Congress
leadership to do so.

On another note, Region 4 will be hosting the National Winter Sports Workshop for the Forest Service in
Jackson Hole next February. We are planning to host this workshop concurrently with the Regional
Recreation Directors and he Regional Ropeway Engineers. There has been interest shown by the
Directors for part of the agenda to address Snowmobiling Management. | think this would be another
excellent opportunity for Doug to present his porgram.

| look foreward fo working with Doug and the International snowmobiling community in providing an
important educational opportunity for this segment of our recreating public that will help them to make
good decisions based on education when snowmobiling in the backcountry on their National Forest.



Chris Landry To: hshovic@fs.fed.us
<clandry@imtnet> cc: kschlenker@fs.fed.us, Doug Chabot <dchabot@fs.fed.us>, Karl
. Birkeland <kbirkeland @fs.fed.us>
01/13/02 04:18 PM cc: kschlenker@fs.fed.us, Doug Chabot <dchabot@fs.fed.us>, Karl
Birkeland <kbirkeland@fs.fed.us>
Subject: GNFAC location

Please respond to
clandry

Dear Mr. Shovic,

It has come to my attention that the USFS is contemplating relocating
the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, and Dr. Karl Birkeland of
the USFS National Avalanche Center, out of their downtown location in
the Federal Building to office space on the west edge of Bozeman.

As a graduate student at Montana State University, I've had a close
working relationship with both the GNFAC, visiting the office in the
downtown Federal Building frequently. and with Dr. Birkeland, my
primary advisor. This central location has been convenient to me, and
the Gallatin District Ranger's office would clearly be less convenient.

I know, too, from experience, that the GNFAC has frequent visits from
its citizen constituents interested in passing along field observations
and/or obtaining information directly from the GNFAC staff.

This latter interaction, it seems to me, is especially important to
retain. Prior to attending graduate school here, I was a professional
avalanche forecaster in Colorado with close ties to the Colorado
Avalanche Information Center. If the CAIC has any defficiency in its
day-to-day avalanche forecasting operation it was, in my opinion, the
lack of face-to-face interaction with its "customers". This harms their
ability to forecast, since backcountry users find it hard to pass along
complex information face-to-face, and harms their credibility, since
users had no personal relationship with the avalanche center staff. It
seems to me, after being here in Bozeman for three winters, that the
current downtown location benefits both GNFAC users and its staff
greatly in those matters and that relocating the Center to the west end
of town would do substantial harm to the Center's excellent performance
and strong user relationships. If their current office space at the
Post Office building is simply essential to the Forest for other
purposes then I would strongly urge you to consider finding an
alternative and convenient downtown location for the GNFAC and
Birkeland.

I'm sure that you have given this matter careful attention and I
appreciate your consideration of my thoughts.

Chris Landry



: Were on ‘sriowmobiles.

8 avalanche deaths in Montana set record |

Common problems °
seen in most:of the

8 accidents

By BRETT FRENCH _
Gazette Outdoor Writer °

The deaths of two snowmobilers ..*

northwest of Cooke City on

Saturday pushed Montana to a mor-
bid-record -~ the most people killed

in avalanches 'in a season — and the

_ ‘Season’s not over.

. When Worden resident Michael
G. Martin, 41, and Joey W. Pierce, 37,

. of Pompeys Pillar died tinder tons of
"snow, they raised ‘the avalanche:

Doug Chabot; of the Gal

Nationial Forést Avalanche Center,

said there’s a common thread in

-they’te ona slope wit, a weak layer,

a carrying:
“gear and transceivers and knowing
how to use them. But if everyone is
“on aslope and gets caught, the 7

\

most avalanche deaths i in Montana.’
“Out of those eight, in seven
cases there was more than oné per-
son ona slope at one time,” he said.
“They're just increasing stress‘on
the snowpack. Each machine with.
person is 600 to’'700 pounds. If

they will $ -
- Without that’ ne factor; Cb 7

educational programs,” * Chabé Said.
“And we emp! ‘rescue

marking” onMount. Abed

when the: avalanche started.

begin to ie down: .
But when a snowmobiler gets
stuck on one ‘of :those ‘steep

slopes and another rider drives .

‘up to help, the chance of causirig
an avalanche has just doubled.

. ‘According to Scott Hamilton,
Park County sheriffs deputy, the
five riders were in a line going up.
the slope when the avalariche

bréke on Mount Abundance. © ci

Thee ofthe riders were buried,
but only one was able to dig him-
self out. The other two riders, at
the back of the line; turned.and
outran the avalanche.

: Avalanche education courses

advise people to stay to the side
of avalanche-prone slopes‘when

arider is high marking and not to ~

g0.to help a friend if the friend
- gets stuck. At least then, if an
avalanche does occur, only one
person is buried. and the rest,
with appropriate rescue gear and

transceivers, stand’ a better
« of digging their friend

yout

~ But five of the eight Montana
aval: ¢ victims had_trans-
i ‘and. rescue equipment.

ceive

Are ridérs putting too much faith.

in their rescue gear? .
Chabot doesn’t think that’s

just ‘don’t think people
understand how fast avalanches
happen and how helpless they.
can be in an avalanche,” Chabot
said.

An avalanche ean t speeds
6f100 mph, Chabot said,
tons of snow capable of snappi

il rigs. Whi

is less obvious that: accident are’
more likely, he said. .
“We're finding tha éspecially”
on south-facing slopes, there’s'a-
weak layer of snow théré; and it’s:
not everywhere,” ‘Chabot said.
“There's all these ‘slopés in the
Cooke City area, and only a small
percentage are unstable." .

Cooke City resident Bill
Blackford, who's also a'ski guide
and member. of the local search
and rescue team, said, “If any- '
thing, this.year ‘the snow is safer
than last year. Lots of people
were buried last year, but there
weren't as many fatalities.” .

Blackford ‘said',people who
have no avalanche training may
be in danger when in the back-
country, As long as there’s snow
on the ground and steep slopes,
there’s a chance of avalanches,

- he said. *.

“What might. de cive people”

¢ isthe: amount of ‘peo,
ith

City to snowmobile, without fear
of avalanches, “You just-have to

use your judgment and: not go
where you shouldn’ t be,” he said.

Brett French can be reached at
657-1387, or at

ts french@bilingsgazette.com



SHOWDOWN SKI AREA

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G i ‘TIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CEI ANNUAL REPORT 2001-200;

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS

This winter set records for avalanche fatalities in Montana. We led the nation with nine deaths,
all of them snowmobilers. To be fair, there was a death in Idaho that was so close to the MT
border near West Yellowstone that it should be counted too. That makes ten fatalities out of 32
nationwide. Unfortunately for us, three of these took place in our advisory area.

Given the steady rise in snowmobile avalanche fatalities we’re reaching out to this group as
much as we can. Most of these instances have glaring similarities we’re trying to point out in
our education programs. They can be broken down into three simple ideas:

1. In Montana, over half of the people killed in avalanches this year would be alive today if
they exposed only one rider at a time on a slope. By just stopping that one behavior,
we'd see avalanche fatalities plummet across the nation.

2. Another way to rapidly bring down these numbers would be if all snowmobilers carried
rescue gear and knew how to use it. There’s nothing worse than going to an accident
scene and finding someone dead from a shallow burial where a transceiver may have
saved their life. Certainly there are no guarantees, but a competent partner with rescue
gear can definitely increase your odds of surviving. Three people are alive today
because they had partners who kept their cool and performed rescues using
transceivers, shovels and probes.

3. And last, we're trying to get snowmobilers to recognize that recent avalanche activity is a
huge sign of instability, and to be extra careful traveling in avalanche terrain during these
times.

Our education efforts are constantly being refined and we're always looking for new ways to
teach. We'd love to educate everyone, because knowledge is a powerful tool for staying alive.
We're excited about the live recoveries, especially because two of the incidents involved people
who were trained through the Forest Service. Education works and we're dedicated to reaching
more people every year.

Jim Earl created an “Accident Reports” page on our website. This allowed us to put pictures
and reports of the various incidents soon after they occurred. Although reading about accidents
can be grim, they can help drive home important points about traveling in avalanche terrain.

Table 2 represents all of the avalanche incidents and accidents reported to us. We only hear
about a fraction of the avalanches actually triggered; yet with incidents involving injury and
death we’re usually notified quickly. As you look at the list, you may notice that many of these
incidents are clustered around certain dates. This should come as no surprise since these were
usually preceded by significant snowfalls. The listings in bold are those that resulted in
fatalities.

Table 3 lists all the avalanche fatalities this year in the US. As of May 1* there were 32 deaths;
MT with 9, AK-8, CO-8, UT-3, ID-2, CA-1, and WY-1. That's 32 too many.

Table 4 records the US avalanche fatalities for the last 16 years grouped by activity. This year
was a bad one for snowmobilers with 18 deaths, nine of them in MT! This group has the
unfortunate distinction of leading all others in fatalities during this period. Given the popularity of
the sport, the athleticism and youth of the riders, and the powerful machines, we are targeting
our education efforts to try and stop this rising trend.



ing hooky.

Where

big boost
for Bridger

i

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL
Chronicle Staff Writer

‘With snow accumulation ranging from 30 to 50
inches at Bridger Bowl Friday, a lot of people were play-

. “Today, it’s looking like about 3,500 skiers, which is
anice big Friday for us,’ said Terry nera
i] manager of Bridger Bowl. “I think there was a lot of
powder flu today.” _—

All of the fresh powder fell overnight in a dunip:
unlike anything Bridger has seen in quite some

“J wenit to the ski area and man was it nice, it y
incredible? said Doug Chabot, of the Gallatin National
Forest Avalanche Center. “It was the best skiing T’ve
seen up there in three years.” ee Bs

‘Abelin, general

(Moré-on Bridger, page A12)

i Bridger/irom page A1

The storm was caused by what Chabot -
called the classic “Bridger Bowl Cloud,” but
that cloud seems to have broken up and * ~
moved on. ut

“A moist northwest flow of air comes ©

down from the north, and with the geogra-- -

phy, it doesn’t hit any big mountain ranges
until it hits the Bridgers,” he said. “It’s pretty
juicy” . ;
___ But,that big of a snowfall can also cause
-problems.

“More snow equals more-avalanches,”
Chabot said. “Whenever you have a huge
dump like this you're going to get some-
thing to move on steeper slopes.”

Skipatrollers were up early setting off
slides and digging out lifts to prepare for the

tush of skiers:

“The amount of work it takes for them
to open that area is phenomenal,” Chabot

+ said. “It’s a hive of activity up there early in

the morning. It’s pretty wild to witness it.
Most people never think about it, they just
show up and ‘the lifts are running.” -. :,

Even with the extra work, the Bridger
and Pierre’s Knob lifts were both down for
part of the morning because of mechanical
problems.

“Tt was just due to the cold and the
amount of snow,” Abelin said. “Alpine lift,
due to the avalanche concerns, is the last lift
we open. The Deer Park lift was very
crowded at 10 o'clock.”

But with 30 inches of fresh powder sur-
rounding them, he’said skiers weren't com-

: . plainirig. about the lift lines and everything

“was open by about 10:30 a.m.

“They hoot and howl a lot,” Abelin said.
“Thad people say it’s the best snow they've
skied in 30 years” — .

The ski hill had $10 day Jan. 11 and any-
one who skied that day was given a voucher
to:ski for $10 again Friday. It was also the
annual Bobcat day arid Abelin said $5 of
every lift ticket will go. to: Montana State
University’s skiteam,... -

* On average the Bobcat ski day raises
about $4,000 for the MSU ski team, said
Patty Kicker of MSU athletics.

“We have a great partnership with Bridger
Bowl, she said. “The money comes back into
the program to enhance the ski team”

Kayley Mendenhall is at
kmendenhall@dailychronicle.com.



‘this: You're skiing

ap
ticking: ‘Odds are that if you'r ‘ré dug out in
the next 15 minutes you've got a 90
pefcent chance of survival. At Half an hour
its less than 50 percent and deceases
rapidly from there.

This is a grim situation, What can you
do? Nothing, It's all up to your partner now.
Just-hope that you chose them wisely and-
they have some basic rescue skills and a
high “freak out” threshold, But everi the
coolest, calmest, smartest; most
proféssional partner will-be unable to dig.
‘out your rapidly suffocating body if youre
not carrying avalanche rescue gear.

: With Christmas just around the corner
‘and winter stillin its infancy; how ié'a good
‘imé to givé your partner some backcountry
‘avalanche gear: Not only do you get points
for'buying them something new and cool,
but you're the one that could directly reap
the benefits! Hopefully this stuff never gets
used, but lets face it, people make
stakes: :

We get lost, fall down, get stuck and
sometimes find ourselves in situations we
never.thqught possible, No one ever plaris

on getting caught in an avalanche, just like
‘no, one ever plans.on getting into car
wrecks. But wearing:a seatbelt of carrying
stescue gear can.stack the odds of survival

‘in our favor. Ata tniriimum you sttould

carry an‘avalanche transceiver, shovel and .
probe. And remember, everyone venturing
into avalanche terrain should have these
arid know how'to.use'them, Surviving a au

ithout.them is slim,

some-information
‘wallet to:make a holiday

» “Transceivers,,also tefetred to.as beepers or
_ beacons, cost around §200 ta,$300. At

— SNOW ADVISORY

This Christmas, give a gift that may savea life

away, but these little units are:
comerstones‘of bing fou fourid if
How:the

‘teady’rat Sten, if someone”

becomes buried,-you can switch to
“receive” in order to heat the “beep”

‘emitting from the buried beacon. The closér

. you get, the stronger the signal gets. This
sounds easy, but it requires some practice *
to master, especially in the horrific event
that more.than one person is buried.

There are many brands of
tansceivers, although they'can be sorted
into three types: analog, digital and a
hybrid of both. The bottom tine is that they
all work wel, arid are compatible with one
another.

In search mode analogs ulilizé sound
from a mini speaker as the primary
seaiching tool,’se.the closer you get, the
louder the “beep” becomes. Additionally,
some analogs have a light display. that
blinks.as you get closer.

In contrast, digital. beacons have a
microprocessor in'them that measures the,
signal suength and displays the search.
distance in meters. These also have sound,”
so as you get closer to the buried beacon .:
the nuribers descend and the volume
increases. . . +

Hybrid transceivers allow. you to
switch back and forth between digital and‘:
analog, which some people find helpful yet
others find confusing.

Each beacon, regardless of brand,
requires practice to use effectively,
especially in the heat of battle. The model ”
you choose will depend on its ease of use
depending on yéur prior experience and -'
style of learning. We are alvrays'asked,

° THiee a‘e many good shovels to,

choose fram ranging from’ $30 to $80. The

shovel blade, usually metal or lexan, needs
to withstand the abuse of hard shoveling
and prying.

. Metal-scoops tend.to be! larger which
allow you t0 move more sow and dig

Doug.chabotTM

through hard debris better, but lexan blades
are lighter anid stronger. Extendable handles
can’be a good option since.they make
digging easier on your back. And predrilled
Foles.on the scoop let you improvise a.”
harness to carry the shovel on your body,
which is handy if you're snowmobiling or
skiing without a pack,

Fancier models have-probe poles or
snow saws conveniently stashed In the
handle.

Bigger is definitely belie. However,
if its too big you'll be more apt to leave it

“at home instead of taking it with you, so

find that balance.
PROBES

A collapsible probe pole will set you -
back $45 to $75 depending on the
materials used. —_

Carbon fiber probes are strong and
light, but pricey when-compared to- >
aluminum ones. Some ski poles screw
together creating a makeshift probe, which
is a nice option if you are.exceptionally
‘weight conscious, however. they’re,not as
efficient as a stand-alone probe.

Probes are effective at pinpointing a .
buried victim, which cuts down on your
digging time and increases their chances of”
survival. 1 highly recorfmend carrying one
— or better yet, ! highly recommend my
partner carrying one! .

Be generous this holiday and give

- yourself or someone close lo you a beacon,

-_www.mldvalanche.com,

shovel or probe. Deaths caused by lack of
rescue gear are, totally avoidable. If you
travel in avalanche'terrain you owe il to
yourself, or-more importantly to’ your
family and friends, to lower your risk’ by
getting educated and carrying the
appropriate.gear. Stack the.deck in your
favor in case you erred in your snow
stability evaluation. In fact, be extra ;
generous since.the gear you buy for your:
partner: may be the same. gear thatsaves:
your life! :
Ityqu'd like to reid. our cally,
avalanche‘advisories or, see ou!
schedule; check out our websi

Doug Chabot is ihe director of the
Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

DECEMBER ZOO: BIG SKY PUBLISHING



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vhen Snowmobiling/from page one

mits a beeping signal and also
shows a light signal which gets
stronger as you get closer.

‘Research shows that most
snowmobile avalanche victims are
found within forty feet of their
snowmobiles, usually upslope but
‘sometimes under their machine or
downslope. That gives a rescue
team a good indestionof where {0
begin their search. Riders should
carr probes on thls packs go they
can begin probing the siow for a

- victim, Watt says that when he gets

areading between 8-10 feet, then
he can begin probing. But with the
digital transceivers, it takes only
seconds to find your mark, provided
you've had the practice. The analog
‘ones can take a bit longer, but

, With experience, should get
you gue to your

fohnson, Chabot and Watt all
agree that practice and prepared-

life will trigger on avalanche.

WEST YELLOWSTONE NEWS — December 27, 2001 9

ness are fundamerital for back-
country snowmasbilin

ig. Watt
req jes to apend a
great deal of time on “guide
Fides” go they can practice safety
and reseue techniques.

‘Watt has never had to rescue
someone during an avalanche, but
he knows it can happen at any
time. it js almost certain that per-
son who snowmobiles their whole

This was the first year the
‘Avalanche Center put on the two-
day course. The first was held last
year in Bozeman and was notably
the very fiat snowmobile

avalanche safety course held in’
the country.

‘To call the Avalanche
‘Advisory Hotline, call 587-6981.
Their web site is www.
mtayalanche.com and you ean also
email gnfac@avalanche.org.



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GALLATIN NATIONAL FORE: (ALANCI NTER Al EPORT 2001-2002

Drew and Jennifer Seessel

Drew and Jennifer, avid backcountry skiers and supporters of the Avalanche Center, gifted a
substantial number of mutual fund shares to the Friends for the second year in a row. We all
appreciate their generosity.

Polaris and Team Bozeman

Cliff Gullett, owner of Team Bozeman, once again worked with Polaris and the Friends to loan
us two snowmobiles for the winter. Polaris, for the third year in a row, gave us two new sleds to
tide. This year we rode the 2002 800-RMK, 151” track model. Talk about power! Given the
number of snowmobilers in our advisory area, these machines have been instrumental in getting
us to areas that were previously inaccessible. Equally important, these sleds allowed us to
encounter and educate riders on a regular basis.

Montana Telemark Corporation

They hosted the Pinhead Classic, a telemark event held every year at Bridger Bowl. A record
$700 in proceeds was donated to the Friends. We appreciate the hard work that Warren
Bauder and other volunteers do organizing this fantastic event.

Merica Design

Molly Merica, president of the Friends, was invaluable in her commitment to raise money for the
Avalanche Center. She donated over $2,000 in time designing posters, logos, placemats, and
stickers, and provided leadership to the board of directors.

Cliff Gullett

Cliff of Team Bozeman, helped us get the sleds from Polaris, donated prizes to the Powder
Blast and gave us valuable advice about snowmobiling. (‘These 800s are like a loaded .357; if
you're not careful you can kill yourself.” Direct quote.) He also discounted parts, repairs and
warranties worth over $1,500.

Big Sky Ski Patrol
The Ski Patrol generously donated $500 from the proceeds of their Dirt Bag Ball.

Barrel Mountaineering, Timber Trails, American Avalanche Institute, Big Sky Search and
Rescue, Alaska Mountain Safety Center

We are often asked to teach a variety of avalanche courses that students pay to attend. Due to
Forest Service regulations, we are unable to accept money for teaching those classes. This
year many of these schools and businesses gave us donations in exchange for our time. Barrel
Mountaineering raised $325 from a lecture, Timber Trails of Livingston raised $80, the American
Avalanche Institute gave $400, Big Sky Search and Rescue gave $200 and the Alaska
Mountain Safety Center paid $680 to help defray costs associated with us teaching.

If you're interested in helping the Friends of the Avalanche Center, you can call Chas Day at
587-5040, or write the Friends at P.O. Box 6799, Bozeman, MT 59771.

19



Thanks for your

“Involve-mint”!
“Commit-mint”!
“Excite-mint”!

This is for your
“enjoy-mint”!

Thank or
Twa, softy
ey eben

uh

eve beiius,



adie 8A + Monday, January 14, 2002

INDEPENDENT RECORD

inued from 18

ai-inclinometer, which mea-
sures slope angles, can be
handy where accuracy is para-

gun.

Gaetan
jost natural avalanches _

break free during or immedi-
gly following storms.

johnson said the existing

\wpack cannot adjust to the

Kireased weight in a short

Batiod of time. Adding precipi-

on, either naturally or

pugh the action of wind,

Bly increases the stress on

snowpack, without adding

ny

®Wind redistributes snow by
luring windward slopes and
Beositing the snow onto lee-
rd terrain, creating cornices
Vows of snow,” Johnson

johnson said that on clear,
y days, if the wind is
lowing and moving snow

around, the slopes are being
actively loaded.

“Anytime you're standing on
rocks in the middle of winter,
ask yourself where all the
snow has gone,” Johnson said.
“it was probably redeposited
on the leeward side of the
ridge.”

Snowfall and wind aside, the
most obvious and often
ignored sign of an unstable
snowpack is recent avalanche
activity.

“Heed the warnings,” John-
son said. “It's Mother Nature's
biggest sign that things are
‘unstable.’

Yet, even this warning.is
often ignored.

Johnson told of a group of
four Minnesota riders who
rented sleds from a Cooke City
retailer. Upon entering the ter-
rain, Johnson said, they trav-
eled over the debris from a
recent avalanche and began
riding the adjacent slop

“Could the snow slide’
Johnson said. “Well, it already

did, yet they chose to ignore
this obvious sign of instability.”

‘The subsequent avalanche

measured 300 fect wide and
slid 120 vertical feet, killing
one of the riders. Noone in the
group had avalanche beacons,
probes or shovels, prompting
‘one of the riders to go to town
for help.

Rescuers located the body
15 minutes after arrival. If the
group had been prepared,
Johnson believes, they may
have been able to save their
friend.

“You are the rescue team,”
Johnson said. “You need to
have the knowledge and equip-
ment to rescue your partner.”

The Equipment
Carrying the equipment is a

* start — the avalanche beacons,

shovels and probes.

Despite their cost,
avalanche beacons save lives.

Johnson said everyone in
the group must have a beacon,
and everyone must ensure the
instrument is set to transmit.
If you're wearing a beacon and
become buried, and it's set to
receive, you're probably out of
luck.

But simply having a beacon

ig not enough. Those in the
group need to know how to use
one. Practice makes perfect,
Johnson said, increasing the
‘odds of conducting a success-
ful rescue in the 15 minute-
time frame, which begins once
the victim is buried. Every
minute the victirn remains
buried after 15 minutes, his
odds of surviving drop.

“J don’t know of a bad bea-
con, but I know dozens of peo-
ple who are bad beacon opera-
tors,” Johnson said. “It isn’t the
wizbang, it's the person operat-
jing the wizbang.”

‘The best chance of surviv-
ing an avalanche, Johnson said,
is to avoid one altogether.

“The conditions in the back-
country change daily, even
hourly, and avalanche centers
provide you with recent snow-
pack stability information,” he
said. “You still need to make
‘your own assessments for any
given slope, but avalanche cen-
ters can provide you with
information about previous
snow and wind events, buried
weak layers and general con-
cerns that you can focus on.”



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
History 1
Advisory Area 2
20 Ways We Made a Difference in 2001-2002 3
Advisories 4
Avalanche Education 6
Accidents and Incidents 9
Media 13
Professional Development 15
Articles 15
Finances and Fund Raising 16
Contributions of Labor and Equipment 17
Friends of the Avalanche Center 18
Budget 20
Season Snowfall History 23
Future Plans 25
Example of Avalanche Advisory 26
Emails and Support Letters 28

Newspaper and Magazine Articles 45



‘Safety/trom on page 11

ince they travel slowly, have intimate
intact with the snow, and are aware of -
“subtle changes. Skiers also have the
antage of moving easily in mountainous
‘terrain with varying snow conditions and
“cad change their route or goal quickly.
Many randonee skiers also have releasable
bindings, which are a blessing if you're
caught in a slide, although many cross-
country and telemark skis don’t have'these.
Instead, the attached skies anchor or twist
“your legs creating further injuries. Skiers,
unfortunately, also lack the quick
acceleration that snowmobilers have to
power out of a bad situation. They're at the
mercy of their own skill level and position
. “onthe slope if it avalanches.
To their benefit, skiers can choose a
safe route by carefully working the
“nuances of the terrain, which is what I did
to escape the dangerous conditions on Mt.
Ellis’ Skiers can also gather lots of
“information about the snowpack before
“they ‘commit to a slope, or they can avoid
yavalanche terrain entirely. Skiers also will
want to ski one at a time allowing their .
‘partners to watch from a safe location in
se they trigger a slide. While lacking the
wer of a sled, skiers can sometimes
igle off the slope to safety if
cumstances are favorable.

SNOWBOARDERS

Snowboarders, like skiers, can gain 2
Slotof information about the snowpack as
they ascend, although many snowboarders
Md

it uphill finding easier travel on
\dblown, thinner snowpacks. Once at
top of a slope snowboarders can ride
gh challenging snow conditions such
‘eakable wind crusts, irregular surfaces
and thinner snowpacks, plus their

in avalanching slope.
Conversely, the ability to ride in
ifficult snow conditions also allows them

* to possibly ride in more unstable snow

additional floatation may help them escape -

conditions such as wind-loaded slopes.
Snowboarders don’t have releasable
bindings either, which is a big problem if.”
their caught in an avalanche. Since many
snowboarders hike to their chosen slop
their ability to respond to changing. *
conditions by going to a different area is
limited and time consuming. Their :
routefinding power lies in the initial choice _
of slopes with a direct uphill route that

allows easier travel on wind-eroded terrain.

SNOWSHOERS

Unlike’skiers, boarders and sledders,
snowshoers don’t need steep, open slopes
to recreate. They can assess the snowpack
as they travel and due to the touring nature
of their sport, they can choose to stay off of

‘avalanche terrain relatively easily.

Unfortunately, snowshoers have the
disadvantage of non-releasable bindings
and are unable to.slide off of a slope in
the event of an avalanche. Snowshoers
néed to choose their terrain carefully since
even small slopes can have deadly
consequences. Creek bottoms, typically
where trails are, can be notorious terrain
traps. Additionally, many snowshoers find ~
themselves traversing through the runout,
zones of larger avalanche paths. While
snowshoers do not need to be in
avalanche terrain in order to have a good
time, by being outside in the mountains -
they can inadvertently enter dangerous
ground.

Each method of recreation has
unique characteristics. It's important to
look ahead at your routefinding choice ,_,
and make sure that it matches your sno
stability evaluation. The mastery of ~
routefinding requires flexibility since e
day, every group and every snow slope-a
different. Keep your eyes open and realize”
the advantages and limitations of your
sport. .



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/ Recreation

Cgntinued from 1A
|

: | Flint said. “Thirty years ago you:
“| didn’t dare get too far off the

road,” he said. “The’ improve-
ments in power and reliability
have definitely changed things.”

{Although hard figures on win- ‘

ter backcountry use are slim,

Schlenker said: the Gallatin’ esti- :

mates that it averages, 350,000

snowmobile visits a year, about
50,000 of those in the Cooke City *

area and 100,000 in the West
Yellowstone region. .

Gene Thompson, a’ forestry i
tedhnician for the Lolo National
‘Forest near’ Missoula, . said the*

in backcountry‘use hasn't.
lenly shot up, it’s been*grad~

u

I"We have a ready supply of

batkcountry skiers and sniow-.’:

boarders that come out of the uni-
versity and the city,” he said. And

thé commiunity has a ‘strong local -

snbwmobiling group that prefers
toiplow through powder rather
than ride roads.

Increased backcountry use can

be measured by the increas- .

ing attention: to avalanche advi-
softies." The Gallatin Natiorial
“Forest Avalanche Center's
Internet advisories were accessed
150,640 times this past winter — a
62!
and a 400 percent increase from
five years ago.

pl¢ into the wide winter expanse is -

going to cause a few problems.
|Some’‘of: the: effects: of

indreased backcountry use . have.‘

TM More social conflicts — such
as|disagreements between skiers

ani snowmobilers, or skiers and *

shoers;,

| More animal ys. human con-
flicts —: a lawsuit against the
Gallatin National Forest: claims
snowmobilers are harming grizzly
bear denning areas;

@ And ‘more - people in the
backcountry means an’ increasing
number of deaths resulting from
avalanches.

e avalanche hazard exists
allgthe time,” Thompson said.
“Obviously, the risk only increases
if you put people in the high haz-
ard areas.”

'percent increase over last year

(Naturally, : packing. more peo- *

According to the Avalanche
Center . Web site
(www.mtavalanche.com/)
winter recieation has skyrocketed
on national forest lands across the
country, and so have the number
of avalanche accidents and fatali-

ties. >
Schlenker said the ‘forest’ pro-

vides specific training: courses for

snowmobilers and snowmobile

+ guides about avoiding avalanches

and assessing conditions.

People used to think only hard-
core backcountry skiers were”
going into avalanche ‘terrain,
Schlenker said. “That's not the
case anymore.”

Another problem associated
with the increased use is more ‘
trespassing by snowmobilers into }

ilHerness areas, Schlenker said,

ially around Cooke City.
"That's due to the evolving
ology of snowmobiles,” she :
id. “They're more powerful,,
fet and able to handle deeper

KWe ‘have a 365-day-a-year
recreation program, but we don’t
getifunded fox that. We,ont get
funded for six months,” she said.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

Your expertise and enthusiasm really shows in your advisories. Thanks for
the service. Enjoy the offseason.
Mike

THANKS ALOT FOR ALL THE REPORT!
Lynn Ingeman

Ron,

Many years ago an acquaintance in the area took me and my wife into
Sheep Basin on skis in late February. An avalanche path right at the
entrance especially impressed us. An aspect of nature | have found
interesting ever since. Thanks for all your effort and insight on the risks
and potential dangers from snow and gravity. | always enjoy reading each
edition of your consistently well investigated and articulated advisories.
Moisture and the quantity deposited as snow is a major aspect of life in your
part of the country and | follow your advisories partly to gain a sense of
what the coming season and economy may be in for.

Good luck with your Forest Service work in the coming seasons.
Sincerely, Doug Colclasure ---Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Ron, Doug, & Scott -

Nice job this season, guys. | know that your program is changing the way
people take to the backcountry. And you can bet you saved some lives. The
boomer's kids have all of the outward bound energy that their parents had
but thanks to the GNFAC they are pausing to gather intelligence and be more
savvy and informed mountaineers. Your report is the first thing | read each
day as | monitor the snowpack in the context of water supply conditions. |
just wish you guys were on a couple more weeks so | had a better feel for
runoff and rot of the pack as we witness the water supply "liquidate." Your
classes in town are great and | want to take a refresher sometime. I'll get
out LaChapelle and start boning up.

Jess Aber,

MT DNRG

Montana Governor's Drought Advisory Committee

30



\LLATIN. Al AV HI INUAL_ REPORT 2001-2002

FINANCES AND FUND RAISING

The GNFAC continues to get strong support within the Forest Service. They fund one full time
position, plus all of the expenses associated with operating an avalanche center (vehicles, office
space and supplies, etc), which total over $50,000. Our budgetary shorifall is covered by the
generosity of many agencies, businesses and individuals.

Friends of the Avalanche Center

These dedicated volunteers are our safety net. This year they donated $5,350 that covered our
snowmobile expenses in addition to administrative and field supplies. Page 18 outlines their
efforts in detail.

National Avalanche Center

Karl Birkeland and Doug Abromeit of the National Avalanche Center funded Doug for 40 hours
last fall to create an “Avalanche Awareness for Snowmobilers” PowerPoint education program.
These were distributed around the country to snowmobile clubs and other avalanche educators.

Northern Region Partnership Fund
This Forest Service committee awarded us $15,000 this winter. This money helped alleviate
our mid-season budgetary shortfall. It was a welcome addition to our coffers.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Recreation Trails Grant

Bob Walker and Steve Gilbert are all strong advocates of the state avalanche program and we
were given $13,209 for our operation. We successfully competed for money again this year,
which will be used for next winter's operation.

Region 1 Earmark

Gary Morrison, director of recreation in Region 1, pushed through an earmark of $20,000 to help
us with our shortfall for the second year in a row. This represents a significant portion of our
budget. We greatly appreciate his support, especially since this money kept our head above
water.

Gallatin County Search and Rescue

Gallatin County Search and Rescue has been one of our most steadfast supporters with
donations of $4,000 every year. Our partnership with them is invaluable and the steady funds
we receive go a long way towards the success of our operation.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Snowmobile Safety Fund

Ray Paige of FW&P is in charge of the state snowmobile safety program and was very
generous by donating another $3,000 again this year. FW&P have been supporters of the
Avalanche Center since its inception, and we appreciate their continued support.

16



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. ANNUAL Ri 1-:

DONATED LABOR AND EQUIPMENT

In addition to cash contributions, the GNFAC also relies heavily on $34,200 in donated

equipment and labor. The labor donations represent a dollar estimate of what it would cost to
hire people to collect the information that these business and agencies provide. It's clear that
without these donations the Avalanche Center would be unable to operate at its current level.

Equipment:
Polaris Industries (2 loaner snowmobiles) $6,000
Northern Lights Trading Company $1,000

Labor:
Jim Earl Web Design $1,000
Big Sky Ski Area $3,000
Bridger Bowl Ski Area $2,000
Yellowstone Club $2,000
Cooke City Bike Shack $500
National Weather Service $1,700
National Park Service $1,500
Team Bozeman $1,500
Volunteer observers and office help $6,000
Field volunteers (600+ hours) $6,000
Merica Design $2,000
Computer Programming $1,000

TOTAL $34,200

CONTRIBUTIONS

Earl NLTC Polaris
3%

S% 15% Big Sky
9%

Merica
Field 5% Bridger
18% 6%

Yell Club

6%
Observers CC Bike

18% 1%

Team Bzn NWS
4% 5%

22



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

FRIENDS OF THE AVALANCHE CENTER

The Board of Directors include:

Molly Merica, Chas Day, Greg Caracciolo, Joel Lee, Dale Sexton, Annie Fast, Jeannie Wall,
Drew Seessel, Ron Lininger, Jason Schutz, Lance Riek, Jim Marshall, Marty Faulkner, and Cliff
Gullett.

As our biggest supporters, the Friends of the Avalanche Center continue to be a cornerstone of
our program. They began the year organizing the third annual Powder Blast fund raiser that
netted over $7,000. The entire Board rallied around this event, which was a huge success. We
are indebted to these dynamic and hard working individuals for all their time and energy they put
into helping the Avalanche Center.

This year the Friends gave us $5,350 in direct support by paying for many expenses incurred
outside of our normal operations. The snowmobiles that are donated by Polaris require general
maintenance, oil, insurance, covers, as well as replacing bent trailing arms and tie rods from
pretending to better riders than we actually were! If you own a sled you know how quickly these
costs can add up.

The Friends also covered many administrative expenses, which included the fees to our email
provider, Internet server, CDs, software, and subscriptions. They also paid for the design and
printing of magnets and stickers for our education programs, and purchased two avalanche
transceivers for our use. Additionally, they paid Ginger Birkeland for her professional editing
services and compensated Chris Lundy for his teaching time.

Besides the wildly successful Powder Blast, a few other fund-raising events deserve special
mention.

Surfrider Foundation and the Friends hosted a showing of the new Teton Gravity Research
film “Mind-The Addiction”. They split the proceeds, which netted the Friends over $2,000.

Annie Fast, Chris Ankeney, Nel Bashoff, Jason Schutz and others put together a slide
show of snowboarders, skiers and kayakers that yielded over $1,500. This was the second year
that they organized this event, and we anticipate it becoming a local favorite.

The Friends, being a non-profit 501 3 (c) organization, provide a means for other individuals and
organizations to financially support avalanche education and information. These community
partnerships are invaluable since the support we get reaches far into the fabric of southwest
Montana. This aspect of the Friends is understated, yet an important part of their overall
mission. This year they received support from:

Hans Saari Memorial Fund

Hans Saari was tragically killed in a skiing accident last year in France. His untimely death was
felt throughout the Bozeman community, home to his family and many friends, as well as the
larger international skiing and climbing community. His parents asked that donations be sent to
the Friends in his memory, which totaled over $6,000. Our goal is to use the proceeds from this
fund for avalanche education so that it can be maintained in perpetuity. This year the Friends
used $150 to pay Chris Lundy to teach three courses that reached 136 people. Next year we
hope to increase this amount by having the fund pay for even more education.

18



“ Milton Fusselman To: Kimberly Schlenker/R1/USDAFS @FSNOTES
:39 AM cc; Doug Chabot/R1/USDAFS@FSNOTES, Ron
12/17/01 11:39 Johnson/R1/USDAFS @FSNOTES
Subject: Avalanche training

The Gallatin Avalanche Center put on a program at West Yellowstone this weekend. It was attended by
about a dozen people, including 2 NPS rangers, several snowmobile guides, and several members of the
general public. It was a good course with a lot of valuable information. | spoke with about half a dozen
attendees afterward, and they all thought that it was important that they had gone. Even though some of
them had been riding for years, and had been around in avalanche country, they learned a lot. {tisa
program worth continuing. We had hoped to have greater attendance, but a conflict with the NPS program
for guides prevented it. However, a shortened version of the avalanche training will be offered again this
Wednesday in West Yellowstone.

Milton Fusselman

Hebgen Lake Ranger District

Hwy 191 North, PO Box 520

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 823-6968; FAX (406) 823-6990
mfusselman @fs.fed.us

William Avey To: Kimberly Schlenker/R1/USDAFS @FSNOTES, Doug
ot/14/02 11:43 AM Chabol/R1/USDAFS @FSNOTES
ce: Becki J Heath/R1/USDAFS@FSNOTES, Rich
Inmar/R1/USDAFS @ FSNOTES

Subject: Scott Schmidt and the Avalanche Center

Last night Scott came over and he and | went to the Sweet Grass County Recreation Association (local
snowmobilers) potluck. Scott gave an outstanding presentation to them on avalanche awareness, he did
a fantastic job of speaking to the snowmobilers on their terms, with his delivery and presentation tailored
to them - | just wanted to send over a note to let you all know how much | appreciate the job he did as welt
as how much goodwill this outreach of the avalanche center bought us.

"Kim Raap" To: <dchabot @fs.fed.us>
<KRAAP @state.wy.us ce:

> Subject: Avalanche Training CD
02/25/02 04:45 PM

Doug,

On behalf of the IASA Western Chapter, many thanks for attending our meeting
in Jackson last Friday. The work you have done is outstanding and you are
certainly to be congratulated. Everyone was very impressed with the
presentation and the work you have done to bring snowmobiles into the
avalanche education effort.

After polling folks, we could use a total of 100 CDs with manuals to cover the
8 states who were present. There is a strong commitment from our folks to get
this great new information out into the snowmobile safety education networks
in our respective states.

Please send the materials to me and I'll distribute it from here. My address
is: Kim Raap, Wyoming State Trails Program, Herschler Bldg. 1B, 122 W 25th
St., Cheyenne, WY 82002.

Thanks again for your assistance.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

As avalanche fatalities mounted, so did our media exposure. Although unfortunate, the
accidents and ensuing press coverage provided us with great opportunities to inform the public
about avalanche danger. Our 35 media contacts (Table 5) resulted in favorable articles and
television spots that piqued the public’s interest in avalanche education, and increased the
demand and attendance of our classes. Copies of the various newspaper and magazine
articles begin on page 45.

This was our second year working with Rob Work at KMMS (95.1 FM) radio. Once again, every
Thursday, Friday and Saturday Ron would have a 2-minute spot highlighting avalanche
conditions. A local snowmobile shop, Team Bozeman, sponsored these radio announcements
which were a huge hit.

Some highlights of the coverage we received included:
a Two editorials and three cover stories in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The editorials
were especially flattering about the positive effects the GNFAC has on the community.
a Two cover stories in the Billings Gazette. They also printed our avalanche advisory
every Wednesday in their “Outdoor” section.
Three cover stories in the Helena Independent Record.
A front-page story in the Livingston Enterprise.
A full cover feature and positive editorial in the West Yellowstone News.
A two-page article in Bozeman Outside.
The Montana Snowmobile Association ran a free ad in every issue for all the Montana
avalanche center's hotlines and web sites.
A full-page story on the GNFAC in Polaris Pro magazine.

qgoodo

Oo

13



2 county
residents
killed in
avalanche

By JAMES HAGENGRUBER
Of The Gazette Staff:

Two Yellowstone County
snowmobilers . were _ killed
Saturday - morning in an
avalanche near Cooke City.

Rescuers using dogs and °

- probe poles spent more than four
hours searching for Worden resi-
dent Michael G. Martin, 41, and
Joey. W. Pierce, 37, of Pompeys
Pillar. Three other men in their
group survived the 1,000-foot-
long and 450-foot-wide
avalanche, ‘said Park County

_ Sheriffs Deputy Scott Hamilton.

Martin and Pierce were “high-
marking” on the ‘south face -of
Mount Abundance when the
snow let'logse at about 10 am,
Hamilton said.

"The slope is in a roadless area
of the Absaroka Range about 4
miles north of Cooke City. High-

marking is a common practice
among snowmobilers in which a
run is made up a slope until the
machine is slowed by thé powder
and must turn around.

Trent Lofing, a 35-year- old
Worden resident, was also caught
in the slide but was able to dig
himself out, Hamilton said. Alan
Balzer, 38, of Gillette, Wyo., and
38-year-old . Toby Lofing, of
Sheridan, Wyo, saw the
avalanche but were able to avoid
it fe

At least one member of the

group rode back to Cooke City

and telephoned emergency dis-
patchers at 10:48 am.

The trapped snowmobilers
did not have radio transceivers,
which made. finding ‘the men in
the vast debris field difficult,
Hamilton said. Rescuers found
Pierce near thé lower reaches of
the avalanche at 2:25.p.m. He was
buried under 2 to’4 feet of snow.

Please See Avalanche, 8A

Z00Z'g; Anmigag * 30 8DVS — abas smd

: Billings. -

Avalanche

Continued from 1A

Martin was found higher up at
about 3:15 p.m. under 4 to 6 feet of
snow, Hamilton said.

Neither had a pulse, but resus-
citation was attempted, including
using a portable; defibrillator,
Hamilton said. Both were pro-
nounced dead at the scene.

- The avalanche dumped more
than 10.feet of snow in some
areas. The snow came down with
such force that it packed together
likei concrete, making it easy to ”
walk on but tough’ to ‘survive in,
Hamilton saids *

The accident underscores the :
need for snowmobilers and skiérs
to | carry ” rescue:equipment,
including: shovels;>probe poles
and transceivers, Hamilton said.

“By the time emergency res-

_ Cue, personnel ‘can get.on,scene *

it’s Benerally tdo late,” he said. “If
people are going to'be up inthis
sort of country, it’s up to them to

save their own livés. All we can ..
these cases is ~

recover bodies.” --

‘Avalanche danger is. low to
moderate right now in the moun- {
tains near Cooke City, according
e ‘Gallatin Dien ‘Forest

caiised the avalanche, veruey
to-the’Avalanche Center. :
and fescue equip-° ;
ment helped a +36-year~ -old - :
man survive an

27. Scott Olson was buried under

~ “4 feet of snow ‘and’ had passed

out, but his radio transceiver was
still alive and sending signals. ~
Two: snowmobilers from
Columbus::quickly honed in on
Olson’s signal and pulled him
from the snow less’ than:10 min-

-utes after the ‘avalanche. He

regained consciousness five min-
‘utes later.

: Jaries ‘Hagengruber can be
reached at 65-1232 or at jhagengru-
ber@billingsgazette.com



Backcountry skiers pause atop Mount Jefferson n the Contennlal Mourtalna in the Beaverhead Nations!
Mountain Is Inthe b:

Nemesis

eae and Hellroaring Sk Adverrtures, based ont of West Yellowstone, guldes trips into the area and also
ealght stays. -

has a yurt set up nearby for ove!

More and.more people -
find winter recreation
inthe wilds of Montana:
by BRETT FRENCH :
‘Gazette Ouidoor Writer

RED LODGE — In the. 24 years

ete Shelley has been backcountry ski-
ing, he's seen less snow and more peo-

ple.

“But it's‘not, crowded by any
means” he said. “It's one reason I've
‘ung out here as long as T have.”

of the Bearicoth

around Red Lodge, may be the excep 5 a
a = x acne
fog to the me of acess Wate. Sowmnobie duis Joh Watt tajen a break at Johnson Cabin inthe

fackcountry use around Montana's Galfatin Natlonal Forest whila on the. way to Mount Two: Top. More pow
population centers. ‘erful, lighter snowmoblies has made ft easl

EWe dont get a tremendous packcountry :

amount of backcountry use in the - a
Seanad winter because we dont fore. “People move to Montana to matiles — and a ques 1 80) farther
Bear Oot rie ccuatyr said Tom play, and they don" stop just because offthe beaten rack search of perfect
Highberger of the Red Lodge Ranger its winter” powder and a litle serenity.

i Besides backcountry stain, Fred :

District recre-
‘But that's not the case around atten in winter can include everything
Bozeman, Missoula and Kalispell, from cross-country sktingto ice climb-
Where winter backcountry use is ing. soowmobiling to snowshoeing, ice
steadily increasing, according to forest FBhing to cog sledding
managers. “The growth in such activities over
“Certainly winter recreation in the the past five to 10 years can be attrib>
Gallatin National Forest is hugely pop--vted to several factors: better winter
Gian" said Kimberly Schlenker, wilder- gear.— including clothing, skis, soow-
thes and recreation staf officer for the shoes, avalanche ‘beacons atid snow-



Dill Pussciman, a Gallatin National Forest employee who checks on regional outfitters to see they are following procedure, aticmp °
to locate an avalanche transceiver beacon fast Sunday. In the first photo, Mitt is scanning the area for.a signal Ia the second photo,
he zeroes in on the other beacon. In the last pictare, he pulls the buried beacon from the snow after successfully locating it

Gallatin Forest Avalanche Center brings first
snowmobile avalanche safety training to West

Story and photos by BOB FURU
the group aplit into two, But there I was, 2 lowly ‘After parking our sleds
Chabot and Johnson'led each newspaper reporter among along the trail, Chabot led us
quick snow check. _ team through a basic identifi-- some very-accomplished down the unmarked hillside
‘when you are out in the back- cation and safety course on | guides who work for Jeff which contained a few feet of
country on a snowmobile survival and safety in Watt, a pleasant man on solid soft, quicksand-like snow
might be all you need to keep _ syalanche country. ground but a fiendishly sick supported by a solid snow
you and your companions. ‘After some initial fears,a powder hound when aboard a base underneath. Each per-
Alive. tts the lesson several missed turn and » son then took their shovel —
le e battle with m ‘a must for backcountry "bil-
snowmobile utes ander facemaa tay, fil More avalanche ers, along with probes and a
got last sported a precari- ~ transceiver — and carved a
ticipated in an avalanche ‘ous layer Trice safety photos/; page 8 block of snow along the hill-
safety course sponsored by buildup inside my awe side, >”
the Gallatin National Forest jrelmet, I wound up in snowmobile. Watt owns and ‘Next, by placing the busi-
Avalanche Center. Chabot’s group. Thad been operates Ace Snowmobile _ness end of the shovel over
Riding under poor light- reading his faxes and e-mails Guides, a guide service locat- the snow cube, Chabot
ing conditions up to the regarding the center's daily ed at Hi Country demonstrated how you can
Horse Butte Lookout station findings and Suggestions for Snowmobiles on Hayden and _ give the shovel a few soft
and beyond, Doug Chabot years, and had alway’ Highway 20. The rentals and taps to see if any breaks in

and Ron Johnson — two of xscurved Lwould merely be business end is the responsi- the snow are created. If not,
the three men who run the disseminating that informa- bility of Blaine Heaps, Hi he'd tap alittle harder.

Avalagehe Center Country's owner who works — Pretty soon, you could begin
with #28 degree slope. 1



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REP’

To increase our presence in the community we’ve been handing out magnets and stickers with
our phone numbers and web information at our educational seminars. Local businesses have
also been handing these out to their customers. This year we distributed over 2000 magnets
and 3,000 stickers.

ADVISORY USAGE

Accesses

90- 91- 92- 93- 94- 95- 96- 97- 98- 99- 00- 01-
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

Year

Figure 1: Advisory usage from 1990-91 to 2001-02



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOI T LANGHE CENT! ANNUAL REPO! -2002

EMAILS AND SUPPORT LETTERS

It makes my heart soar like a hawk to see an email from the avalanche center
and Thank you for the fine work you boyz do..
what a job.. :)

alot of Helena Boyz sled in your areas, and have found your updates both
informational and entertaining..

Keep up the good work..

Daryl Cheek

Hi Doug,

I should have started out that request with "thank you very much for the
great and specific information you give in your mailings"! You guys are
awesome! -Kevin

Hi there!

We really appreciate the availability of the report and all the great work
you do. We'd love to treat you guys to lunch next time you're in town -
just let us know when!

Leona

West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce

Dear Doug,

The Avalanche awareness night in Tahoe was

a huge success. With over 250 people in

attendance. Thank you so much for giving me the power
point presentation to use, It made my presentation
much more professional. | look forward to meeting you
in person at an ISSW in the future.

Thanks Doug.

Thanks for the alert - we may try to get down there with a little army next
Tuesday (soonest the logistics work ...). Meanwhile, | may give "our" spot on
lower Bacon Rind a go, looking for the same

SH.

Your pics with the advisories are very helpfull And dramatic!
See you soon ...
Chris

Thanks again for your help and Happy Holidays.
Cheers, Lel Tone



acura cu

~ - 5 Pot coat a anya
IIS PHOTO SHOWS THE HILLSIOE where the avalanche occurred. Campbell was snowmobiling in the upper left side
ifthe phate, a

Buried: Campbell saw warning
signs but didn'theedthem.

snow moving. I was right in
the middle. It happened so
quick:
‘The two-foot deep slab had
broken free 75 feet above
‘Campbell. It measured 150
‘yards across, meaning that
Campbell, who was caught on
his machine in the middle of
the now-moving slab, was still.
75 yards and a long haul

safety.
When the slab began to
move, time, He sald, stood

still.

‘Doug Chabot, an avalanche
expert with the Gallatin
National Forest, satd that

F Pats contro at Cond
rage avalanches can i
average avalanches can 6p’ JEECAMPIGL ght and his fend Day Burs ot Deer Lodge ig Carp:

achieve see deorroe coc. belt snowmobile ut rom the avalanete

ohds. They crash down'with create a breathing hole the ‘Now nearly a year later,
the force of afrelght train sizoofhis fist. He beganto Campbell related his story to
andsettle scream for help, not knowing _& roomful of Forest Service

withthe _ iphis partners were caught in personnel attending an
‘Cwag thinking “©278Isten:. the massive slide as well. avalanche awareness course
about whatan ©, bet con“ “““thad some air," Campbell for snowmobilers in Bozeman
idlot § was. | wie, said. *ButT ted fopushout on Monday,

‘ with my legs, Tryingtomove __Like avalanche experts
had a baby on * twotypes. — it was just like concrete. 1 Chabot and Ron Johnson, who
the way.thad of slides © couldn't hear a thing.” teach avalanche safety for the
three kids anda — Uh” Five minutes passe Gallatin National Forest,
ae iy : 0. His avalanche bgaco ‘Campbell hopes to spread his
i

inn flier “HEREIN ees MPRA

snownopne carer 28000-""" ana the unlgiqyratate ofdhle to your intultlon.
veron = owvand eens aseaat abe ~* Stp's of the utmost im
aii slab. family. And hypothermi tance,” Campbell sdid."There -
avalanch- "= was thinking about what | are so many days when you

es, which an jdlot L was,” Campbell sald. can go oltt riding that it's not

move asacohesivemass— = “T had a baby on the 1 worth the risk on a marginal
Campbell was riding the Worst hadthree kids andawife.” day.”
of the two. When the slab goes Fifteen minutes passed — ‘As a safety instructor,
free, Chabot sald, Itfractures the statistical point where the Campbell sald the it-won't-
like a plate of breaking glass. odds of surviving begin to happen-to-me mentelity can

“Thadehold of my sled drop away with every minute be dangerous. Paying atten-
with my left hand," Campbell the victim remains buried. _tion to the warning signs is
sald. “I decided that] wanted gut that day, luck was on paramount. The snow talks. ~.
tohangontomysledandl = Campbell's side. Riders, he said, need to listen.
tried tokeep a swimming “[t took them 20 minutes to .
motion with my right hand.” find me. That 20 mulnutes felt

‘Cambpell’s quick action like forever," Campbell said. Reportar Martin Widston car be
would save his life. The slide - -u] hought they were buried reached at 447-4086, or by email
took him 250 vertical feet too.” ‘ar mkidston@helenair.com.
down the mountain and
dumped him onto an old Lott

Cred thessow pied up. LOtteryNumbers - . .
He was burled in seconds. oe cies .
> “1 felt the snow come over Powerball:.13-19-22-41-47, Powerball S

the top of me," Campbell said. Wild Card; 4-10-14-19-20 King of Clubs

MT kept my right arm moving Montana Cash: 2-15-16-31-37

‘and when I came toa stop 1 Rolldown: 11-24-28-39-48
dried pushing the snow avay

fora my face. {tried to calm i

ylewn and get my wits about Correction

ne:
+ 'Claustrophobis, Campbell Meagher was never appointed governor
‘said, quickly set in. Now °

juried under two feet of In Fridays Independent Record, Thomas Meagher was referred to as Mon
Por en aenoeed To sweep. tand’s fist leita yovenor. He served as acting govemor his appoinled
heldebris sway from his face postion as Montana seca when the sat’ et to governor ef ey
before it settled. By luck, the Potions, bute was never appointed governor. The Montana Historical Soc
eeeer over his face was loose ely recommends Teritoal Pofics and Government Montana, 1864-
iough that it fell through to "1889" by Clark Spence for a discussion ofthe state's poltcs atthe tine.

MONTANA CITIZENS |



mRecor | : - Sunday, January 13,2002+Fagesa *

Danger: Teaching snowmobiler:
how to detect danger is goal .

‘ontinoed from 1A transceiver and used aprobe_ into a body recovery team
. . to pinpoint his Tocation,” . nearly.80 percent of the tispe.
crests and bigh-mark steep’ _ Johnson said. “He was dug “Companion rescue is y
‘slopes. “ip and found to be uncon.‘ ~” best bet,” Johnson said. *
‘Righmarking is atech-, . selousandnot breathing” “Although 64 percent isn’t
nique using a series of up ‘The victim in this case was very high, it's better than 7
Rniidown cutbacks to cross resuscitated after being 20 percent survival that an
Slopes that are too steep to buried for 20 minutes. His | organized rescue offers.”
see nena Sblle directly Story isalucky oné. Many.". Johnson said that out of, SY
‘aeross. don'thave a happyending." 682 rescues performed, only
“They're catching air that _. OmDec.31,2001,near 292 avalanche victims lived -
rivals what the skiers are, Philipsburg, 21-year-old Cory Bt)
doing,” Chabot said. “We're” Ring was killed by an The teaming curve
| Peaee thot many riders are avalanche, becoming Mon-. Jeff Campbell, a snowmng,
Joungond athléticand are, tana'slatest casualty, "bile safety instructor.in Li
Coming trom a skiing or ‘According to the a ‘coln for the Ponderosa Snow

Contearding background." _ report,Ring and three othets Warriors, was caught and ~~
The nroliferation of the |” Were riding snowmobiles in... buried last February in an
sngumrpbile industry has also the Thompson Lake area.’ avalanche near the North
Stayed a factor, Chabot said, When Ring separated-from”_ Fork of the Bleckfoot Rives?”
Pith more riders going off the group, the group went Rescued by his friends,
Wil tnd gutting themeelves. looking for him and found , he's oné of the lucky 64 pe
Gd their groupe at risk. + '- Ring's helmet dnd partially’, “cent to survive a slide, Bejop .
{2001 the snowmobile. - - covered snowmobile inthe. “prepared, he said, con-
industry saw the sale of more ° debris of an avalanche. tributed to his rescue. It’s -
thin 208;$00 snowmobiles. Nooncjin the party had .. . “also contributed tothe su
tee deiie, with morethan.. avelanche transceivers, , vival of other snowmobileysq
_-140,000 of them selling in the shovels Or probes, according. who were buried by an use
U.S-The industry has grown to the report. :)-- avalanche and lived to tellog
to take in $7 billion a year. Aided by other snowmobil-. about it. - 9
ers, the party found Ring's “Snowmobilers have coi
body one hour later. He was - along. way as far as gettin
buried urider more than four _ the gear,” Campbell said of 3
feet of snow-and located 100 - avalanche beacons, probegos -
teticn in the yestern states, - Yards from his snowmobile.» and shovels. “But the know
Of those westérn riders, yM The investigation by.the edge 6f the snow and what,
Chabot sald, $0 percent ri Pintler Ranger District sug~ took for is lacking 4
off trail, compared to only 20 gested that Ring had not With the aumber of fat

percent nationally. . Shade it.very fer op the slope., ‘avalanche deaths among. -gvy
-PeOur goal a8 educatorsis” “when the avalanche tore: snowmobilers climbing, «i
tohelp snowmobilers make Campbell éaid, educating wer

ree.

déclelons about snowpack “(Phey) reached this con-. ers ls the crux of the issug ._
fond terrain go they can make’ clusion based on the fact that, Skiers and climbers. have gy
{nformed declslong Chabot the suow was not conducive been trained in rending

5m

“ald. "With today's technolo- to high-markdng and the snowpack conditions for” 515
salsrrey can easily get ontoa tacks in the general atea did’ years. nowmobllers havea
Abidegres slope — into not make it very.high-up the . " Jobnson agrees. ‘ad
‘avalanche terrain.” slope," thé report reads. “The “If your goal {s to high: »

As riders themselves who sheriff felt that the markson mark, then gather WcHoy
us dnercnines tostady | Ring's) face mey indicate . information ss posalble ono
the snowpack in southwest ‘that his helmet may have ‘your initial pass,” Johnsom

fie smowPid issue avalanche been knocked off bythe ~ “sold, “Ride low and fast oxo)
‘warnings, Chabot and John- , avalanche.” minimize your exposure tage
gon are teaching the teachers _ ‘the center of the slope. Thi
howto educate snowmobl. Surviving the silta~°_ way, ifit slides, you're he

ers. “It lsn't the foot of snow "ed in.a good directlon.”
“Avalanches involving: . that kills you," Johnson. said. ‘Johnson sald riders should
| peorie justdon'thappen'ran:” “Itsthe six feetof debris also consider riding the sk
peor a Jouneon ead “Ia - thatends up at the (bottom).” from the top down Insted@'dt-
demise donche incidents, the Those lucky enough to sur- the bottom up. Center pun
soot ea aecronsinther  viveanavelanche—avold- ing the slope on the first 3:
Paty triggers the side” ingtherocks,trées, cliffs pass, Johnéon sald, rases the
and othenbazardspresented rider's chances Of gstiNg, £3
lide before be

Life-andideath «29-229 soreihes caught fas
In the early 1990s, a snc underthe  can,cross tq the safetyzame
“taivbiler-was Fiding witha minutes. --beyond'the-avalanche's: ~ 36]

Jarge group, high'narking a The longer one Is buried, the flanks. on
Was Sorte facing chute near lower his chance of survival. “Think about the strésseg
Cooke City when he became . “The good news is that if that a rider and a snowmo-
ooo i eeteteee his you're caught in a slide, are bile puton a slope,” Johns
machine, he triggered an untraumatized and have your said. “If it's close tothe - ©
avalanche 200 feet above head burled four feet or less breaking point, then you're"
“him. ® Under the snow surface, you increasing the probabllty,
TThe olldein'this particular , have 890 percent chance of that it will avalanche.’ ”
‘case was substantial, John- surviving if you're dug out According to the ,
son said, It measured 500 Johnson Avalanche Center, 63 per-y
fost wide and 800 vertical , cent of snowmoblle-inducdye
feet Its crowa ine, o thé oféurvival avalanches occur while they,
rere ecre the aleb broke dcops drantaticaly for every rider is high-marking the 47
Point whetiree feet decp and minute that passes, Johnson slope. Johnson added that ff,
tree Pantncle of aédegrees, sald. After 25minutes, the "riders would only expose one

Fias primeavalancte ter. odds of suéviving dropto _—person at atimetoa slope,
rain and snowpack wea weak. roughly S8 percent. At 35 avalanche fatalities wouldoy
“although this occurred in minutes, it falls to 35 per- drop. That means leaving
February, conditions in cent. The victim’s only friend to dig out his own sf

Novomtye contributed tothe cbance of survival, Johnson _ if he gets stuck.
weak, faceted snow near the said, rests upon the rescue “T's common In avalanche
slope’s base,” Johnson said. ability of his companions. incidents with snowmobilers,
“About one foot of new snow “Let's face it, if you're to hear that one person was
fell the previous week and caught and buried in an stuck and his buddy rode up
‘strong winds loaded the avalanche then you blew it,” to help him, but ended up
upper bowl and chute.” Johnson said. “This is when triggering the slide instea
Pecordingtoihe accident yoUhope you chose your Johnson seid. “What some}

| report, the victim had partners well.” times happens is that the pS
back to the avalanche and According to the helper escapes, since he's
ca ates oft until it hit - Avalanche Center, 64 per- a moving machine, but engi

him. The slide swept him 600 cent of ‘those buried in an up killing his friend since
‘vertical feet down the slope avalanche survive ‘because of he’s stuck on the slope.”
Where he was buried under their partners’ ability 10 con- anne _
six feet of debris. duct a rescue. In cases where Reporter Martin Kidston can be’TM*
“They located the victim’s partners left the scene to get reached at 447-4086, or ‘by email
position with an avalanche help, the rescue team turned at mkidston@helenair.com.

mona | __ THANK YOU —_|



‘RON JOHNSON, LEFT, EXPLAINS Now to use an
‘avalanche beacon. Right, Doug Chabot analyzes weak
layers in tha enowpack inthe Bridger Mountains tast
week,

Recognizing the terrain

i Sope Angles: Anything vet 20 percent is uit
erable ta side given enough stess.

i Slope Sze: Whal wil be the consequences if
the sab begin to move?

Ml Scpe Shape Terain vaps canbe deachy by
funneing vil into const spaces.

Vegetation: Damage lo trees is an easy indica-

‘ova CHABOT DESCRIBES HOW [10 STUDY te snowpaek and tral last week.

slats to move’?

tor of avalanche terrain,
iRunout Where wil the side end up onceit

‘BBAspect fs the slope on the windward sie or
leeward side of tne ridge?

BlElevation: Temperature and weather set tho
_ ta res by ag wen gers

Know the signs. Read the signs. Heed the signs.

The first of this two-part story
ran in Sunday's newspaper.
Stary ond Photos
By MARTIN 3 KIDSTON
IR Staff Writer

Surviving an avalanche may be a
‘matter of luck — avolding one is not.

Tt's a messege avalanche experts
‘Doug Chabot and Ron Johnson are
telling the public in hopes of saving
ives.

Working for the Gallatin National
Forest and the southwest Montena
‘Avalanche Center, the two have
tackled an important task — since
1995, mor¢ than 42 avalanches have
“been reported in Montana, killing 22
people. =

‘Studying the Snow

‘According to Johnson, an
avalanche occurs when the load, or
stress, placed upon the snowpack
exceeds its strength. I's a simple
‘equation that, when miscalculated,
‘can be deadly. Additional load can
come in'a variety of ways, such as
standing on the snow, new snowfall,
‘or windblown snow deposited onto
the leeward stopes.

“If the balance is precarious, then
adding just a little more load can

produce an avalanche," he cautioned.

+ Over the course of the winter, the
snowpack becomes layered. Johnson

said every snowstorm adds new lay-
ers to the pack. Each layer consists
of different snow crystals, densities
and strengths. Once on the ground,
the snow can change consistency.

Cutting into the snowpack end
conducting sheer tests, or simply
ooking at the layering, can reveal
possible hazards, such as weak lay-
ers formed by surface hoar or

faceting.

"Surface hoar is frozen dew that
forms on the snow surface during:
cold, clear nights,” Johnson sai
“While not a concern at this stage,
poses a significant and persistent
problem once it's buried."

Surface hoar, while strong wader
compression, is weak under sheer.
Johnson said that once it collapses, it
‘can propagate fractures over large
areas. .

Faceted snow, or non-binding
grains of sugar-like snow, can also
be dangerous, especially when -
buried. The consistency of faceted
snow makes it weak and, once
buried, capable of collapse under ~
stress.

‘While digging @ snow pit ina safe
Jocation can reveal details about the
stability of the pack, i's not the only
sign winter recreationists can look
for to avoid danger.

“It’s one piece of the big puzzle,”
Johnson said. “On some days, it's on
incredibly small piece when there's

avalanche:

oiher signs visible”

‘Snow talks, and people need to Us-
ten. Reading the signs, Johnson said,
can be the difference between life
and death, But yielding to the signs
is just as important as recognizing.
them, Yet, Johnson sald, even the
most pbvious signs are often
ignored,

‘Terral the Only Constant

‘Chabot said there are two types of

£ slough and slab.

‘The slough slide, or point-release
slides typically smaller and,
Decause of its size, is less likely to
catch a person on the way down.

‘The slab slide, however, is a dif-
ferent story.Here, Chabot said, a
cohesive mass of snow, sometimes
measuring a mile wide, breaks free
‘85 4 single unit, laying ruin to any-
thing that lies below. Weak layers of
faceted snow or surface hoar are
often to blame.

“Slab avalanches are the most
destructive and the most difficult to
predict,” Chabot said. “Allit needs is
for-the cohesiveness of the slab to be’
stronger than the cohesiveness of
the weaker layer. Once they go, they
can propagete for long distances.”

‘Dissecting a slab avalanche may

be easier than predicting one. Chabot
+ suid tha, like @ river, they follow a

track down, coming to rest on the
flat terrain below, dubbed a runout.

"It’s a good idea to identify the.
potential runout of a slide, since this,
‘would not be the best place to park a
snowmobile,” Chabot said.

While weather, snowpack and the
human factor all play roles in releas-
ing slides, Chabot said, terrain
remains the nly constant in the
four-part equation,

“With good route-finding, it's pos-
sible to travel safely in the back-
country, even during times of high
snowpack instability,” Chabot said,
“If you can recognize avalanche ter-
rain, then you can avoid

‘Standing up to his hips in a snow
pit at 8,000 feet in the Bridger Moun-
tains, Chabot said that studying the
slope's angle is important, Generally,
he said, a slab avalanche occurs on
slopes between 25 and 60 degrees.
But most slab avalanches occur
when the starting zone is between 30
and 45 degrees.

“anything above 60 degrees and
the snow sloughs — below 25
degrees and the stresses on the
‘snowpack aren't enough to cause the
‘snow to slide,” Chabot said.“When
‘we talk about slope steepness, we're

“referring to the steepest part of the

slope. This isthe likely spot where

the avalanche will be released.”
‘Chabot said that while it may be

hard to estimate the aigle of aslope,

“More AVALANCHE; page 8A



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

In order to continue improving the Avalanche Center we put together a Strategic Plan outlining
short and long-term goals. As stated at the beginning of the report under “20 Ways We Made A
Difference”, we had a very successful year and accomplished all of our short-term goals and
many of our long-term ones. We're already starting to think about next year and have a list of
goals we hope to accomplish. Obviously these are dependent on money and personnel, both of
which we hope to have enough of. Our future goals include:

Qa

a

Next winter we'll offer Scott Schmidt full time work. This year we were able to offer him
32 hours a week and it looks as though we'll have the funds to hire him 40 hours next
season. Having Scott work additional hours this year (32 vs. 24) allowed us to gather
more field data and teach additional classes. He also has expertise in computers,
dataloggers and programming that Ron and Doug both lack.

We will continue with the expansion of our snowmobile education program. Now that
we've got a few classes under our belt, we hope to offer more education in the West
Yellowstone area, for both the public and guides, as well as continue our programs in
Bozeman.

Chris Lundy will hopefully be able to continue teaching for us when our schedule gets
too tight. We'd like to offer more classes using outside personnel so we can reach
everyone who requests a program.

With funding from Fish Wildlife and Parks, we'd like to print up more avalanche
awareness placemats. Our first run of 50,00 has been handed out and many
businesses have requested a second printing.

Hopefully Ginger Birkeland will edit our advisories again next year since we need to
keep improving our writing.

Next season we want to have a web page where you can get a weekly synopsis of the
avalanche and weather conditions.

The International Snow Science Workshop is being held in BC this September and all
three of us will attend. It’s held every two years and consists of 5 days of lectures on
research and other areas of interest to avalanche professionals. !f our proposals are
accepted, Doug will present a paper on snowmobile education and Ron will present one
on shear qualities.

As always, we're still searching for new and consistent funding sources.

Everyone that’s helped us reach our past goals deserve many thanks! With your help, we'll
continue to provide high quality avalanche education and information.

25



Avalanche gear not good without
knowledge

01/29/02
By Chronicle Staff
Email this story to a friend

The recent steady march of snowstorms is holding forth the promise of a good old
fashioned winter for western Montana. That's great news for skiers, snowboarders and
snowmobilers who have been bemoaning a succession of drought-stricken winters.

But it can also spell bad news — the worst — for those who venture into the
backcountry unprepared. Witness the tragic avalanche deaths of four snowmobilers in
Missoula County Saturday.

Winter backcountry recreation has enjoyed explosive growth as legions of the young and
healthy venture further afield in search of unbroken expanses of fresh powder.

The growth in these sports' popularity has also prompted an explosion in the recreation
gear industry. Catalogs proliferate with selections of avalanche transponders for locating
victims, telescoping probes for penetrating avalanche debris and “Avalungs,”" devices
that help the buried breathe while rescuers search.

But the most important avalanche protection device of all — knowledge — is not found
in a catalog.

The four snowmobile victims were among a group of 10 who were well-equipped with
the latest in avalanche rescue gear, and they were not in a restricted area. They were,
however, in an area for which the Forest Service had issued a high avalanche danger
warning.

Here on the Gallatin Nationa! Forest that type of information is issued daily. That
advisory can be accessed by dialing 587-6981. Monday's advisory relayed news of a
snowmobiler who was buried in an avalanche In the Cooke City area Sunday. The
snowmobiler was found and revived but suffered a broken leg in the incident.

The daily avalanche information is a vital component of any backcountry recreationists,
but it must be accompanied by some basic knowledge about avalanche-safe behavior.

A visit to the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center Web site will yield information on
local avalanche hazard workshops open to the public. These workshops just require a
reasonable fee and a time commitment, but the payoff could be invaluable.

Winter is a time of unparalleled opportunity for exhilarating adventure in the Northern
Rockies. But that adventure could turn deadly — as it did for the Bitterroot
snowmobilers — without some basic equipment, the ability to use it, and knowledge.
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/3 1 1/public/news245566.html



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. ANNU; 2001-204

ADVISORY AREA

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center covers over 10,000 sq. kilometers of National
Forest land. Our specific area includes the:

Bridger Mountains

Gallatin Mountains

Madison Range

Washburn Range

Mountains around Cooke City

Lionhead area near West Yellowstone.

ooooaa

Our advisories cover very specific areas, and at times are broken into sub-groups to accurately
describe the current avalanche conditions. Many people also extrapolate from our advisories
for adjacent mountain ranges. The shaded areas on the map represent the approximate area
covered by our advisories.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. __ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

The idea for a full-time avalanche forecast center in Bozeman dates back to the early 1980s
when Montana State University Professor Bob Brown and students Bruce Tremper and Dave
Bryar put together a proposal for the state. They managed to elbow their way into a meeting
with the governor, but their proposal was eventually turned down. Two years later Chuck
Harris, a Forest Service employee in Livingston (20 miles east of Bozeman), got together with
Bob Brown and gathered a network of folks from Bridger Bowl and Big Sky Ski Areas, Montana
State University, Yellowstone National Park and the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). The group discussed the current avalanche conditions on a weekly conference call,
and Chuck put a short blurb in the newspaper on Fridays. When Chuck left for northwest
Montana a few years later, Don Michel, Bridger Bowl's Snow Ranger, took over. Karl Birkeland
took the helm in 1989, and in 1990, through the Forest Service with Kimberly Schlenker's
guidance and support, he started issuing weekly avalanche advisories. These quickly increased
to 4 days a week the next year, giving birth to the Southwest Montana Avalanche Center.

Overworked, Karl hired Ron Johnson part time in 1991 and then full time the following year.
With the additional manpower, advisories were increased to six days a week. Given the Forest
Service's financial commitment, the name was officially changed to the “Gallatin National Forest
Avalanche Center” (GNFAC) in 1993.

Karl decided in 1994 to purse a doctorate from Arizona State University. During his fall
absences, Alex Lowe and then Doug Chabot were hired intermittently to work with Ron. This
continued until 1997 when Doug was hired part time allowing them to expand their advisories to
7 days a week.

The biggest change to the GNFAC occurred in 1999 when Karl was hired by the National
Avalanche Center as an Avalanche Scientist and Technical Specialist. Doug moved to a full
time position and Scott Schmidt was hired part time. In 2000, Doug was hired as the Director,
and together with Ron and Scott they continue to move the Avalanche Center forward.

The GNFAC has grown since its inception in 1990. During its first year of operation the Center’s
avalanche advisories were accessed 3,400 times; quite impressive given that it was a one-man
show with one phone line. This year the advisories were accessed over 174,000 times through
our six phone lines, faxes, emails and web site. Additionally, we taught 62 education programs
reaching 2,700 people.

With winter recreation on the rise, we'll continue to meet the educational needs of our
community. All of our partners contribute time, money and equipment that allow the GNFAC to
continue with its mission of providing high quality education and advisories to the public.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

Table 5: MEDIA CONTACTS
DATE STAFF AGENCY TOPIC
|5-Nov Chabot Bozeman Daily Chronicle Start of Season
[7-Nov Chabot National Geographic Cooke City Skiing
19-Oct Chabot KMMS Powder Blast
28-Nov Schmidt KBZK Start of Season
29-Nov Schmidt KBOB Start of Season
7-Dec Johnson ID Falls Register Ava. Conditions
17-Dec Schmidt National Geographic Cooke City Skiing
81-Dec Schmidt KTVM Ava. Conditions
3-Jan Chabot KBZK Ava. Conditions
3-Jan Chabot —_ Helena Independent Register Ava. Conditions
8-Jan Johnson Helena Independent Register Educators Workshop
19-Jan Chabot Bozeman Daily Chronicle Snowstorm
22-Jan Chabot Billings Gazette Cooke City Avalanche
23-Jan Chabot Billings Gazette Cooke City Avalanche
28-Jan Schmidt Associated Press Cooke City Avalanche
28-Jan Schmidt Livingston Enterprise Cooke City Avalanche
l28-Jan Schmidt MSU Exponent Ava. Conditions
28-Jan Schmidt Great Falls Tribune Ava. Conditions
28-Jan Schmidt Bozeman Daily Chronicle Cooke City Avalanche
28-Jan Schmidt KBZK Ava. Conditions:
28-Jan Schmidt Bozeman Daily Chronicle Danger Ratings
l29-Jan Chabot KRTV Ava. Conditions
18-Feb Chabot Livingston Enterprise Cooke City Avalanche
21-Feb Chabot KBOZ Fatalities
21-Feb Chabot Billings Gazette Fatalities
27-Feb Chabot NY Times Snowmobilers
42-Mar Schmidt National Geographic Avalanche Dynamics
12-Mar Chabot New Yorker Magazine Cooke City
13-Mar Chabot Newsweek Fatalities
25-Mar Schmidt KTVM Fatalities
25-Mar Schmidt Billings TV Fatalities
8-Apr Schmidt KBOB End of Season
12-Apr__ Chabot Powder Magazine Season's Storms

TOTAL= 35 Contacts

14



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

48. We converted all of our slide shows to PowerPoint, which streamlined our education
programs.

19. We purchased an InFocus projector that was kept busy all winter. In the past we had to
wrestle for the “community” projector, however, this purchase allowed us to have a
dedicated system.

20. We were able to shotgun our message about avalanche safety with the help of the
media. We had 35 media contacts that all resulted in favorable articles and television
interviews.

ADVISORIES

Once again, we saw a rise in the number of people accessing our advisories. We’re seeing our
email subscription service and web site become more popular every year as computer
technology gets better and easier to use. Our email list swelled to 832 a day prompting us to
search for another email provider when our old system crashed under the workload. We
replaced it early in the season and our emails remained glitch-free. The new system also allows
us to target emails for specific user groups. Calls to our hotline picked up slightly since Cooke
City became a local call; however, the phone lines only account for 7% of the total accesses.
The number of faxes reached a plateau, although many businesses still find it a popular way to
receive the advisory.

With the purchase of a digital camera we began taking photos and adding them to our
advisories. Now, instead of saying, ”...the avalanche was three feet deep and 1000 feet
wide...” we included a photo to show it. People responded positively to this new feature and
commented that the photos added clarity to the advisory.

Back in the “Dark Ages” of the mid 90s, more people listened to our advisories than read them.
This has drastically changed as Internet access and email became affordable and reliable.
Currently 93% of the folks getting our advisories read them, which prompted us to become
better writers. Or at least try to. Recognizing our shortcomings, we had the Friends hire Ginger
Birkeland to edit our advisories weekly. Like a schoolteacher, her corrections and comments
taught us proper punctuation, grammar and style that helped improve the quality of our
advisories. We hope she'll continue this service next year since we've still got a long way to go.

We began issuing daily advisories on December 4* and continued through April 14" for a grand
total of 135 advisories. Over the season these were accessed 174,347 times, averaging 1,291
people a day, which is a 16% increase over last year and a 360% rise since 1997-1998 (Figure
1).

The breakdown of the numbers are:
a 112,327 emails from our web based subscription service.
a 36,205 hits to our advisories web page (www.mtavalanche/current/index.shtml).
a 11,505 phone calls to the Bozeman hotline, which services the Gallatin Valley,
Livingston, West Yellowstone and Cooke City.
5,940 Forest Service internal emails.
6,750 faxes.
1,620 emails through the Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center (www.csac.org).

ooo

Additionally, our home page (www.mtavalanche.com) received another 40,700 hits.



Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
Aphoto of Mt: Abundance, Just northwest. oft Cooke City; shows the site of the avalanche that. Kliled
Michael Martin, 41, of Worden, and Joey Ww. Pierce; of Pompeys Pillar on Saturday. : :



Friends
rescue
man from
avalanche

By NICK GEVOCK
Chronicle Staff Writer

‘A Billings snowmobiler who
was buried under four feet of
snow near Cooke City Sunday
got by with a little, make that a
Jat, of help from his friends.

‘Two pals dug him out
within 15 minutes, but not
before Scott Olson had a brush
with death.

“I was holding on so tight I
ripped the grips off the alu-
minum bars,” the 36-year-old
Olson said of his ride.

Olson said he was blazing
up a gully around noon
Sunday in the Miller Creek
drainage, with friends Donny
Beer and Tyler Reichert fol-
lowing, when he saw the slide
coming at hii

“By the time I noticed it, I
was on it,” he said. “All I wanted
was to get to this rock pile.”

Olson .
fapom “AL
inan wanted

was to
get to

attempt to
avoid the

this rock
pile.”

bulk of the
slide, but it
— Scott Oison

was too late.

powet of an
avalanche as
he tried to keep from getting
buried.

“Twas swimming as hard as
I’ve ever swam in my life, try-
ing to stay on top of the snow
while avoiding trees,” he said.

He couldn't pull it off. Th
slide took him “over, around
and through” trees. we

Erzon Mo soa

SpreodaD Assq cow

"hedcon.

2oOT hz mew

One of those trees broke his
lower left leg. Olson said he
did everything recommended,
taking ahuge breath asthe
snow shallowed him and cup- '

ing his hands in front of his ~-

face to create an air pocket.

It didn’t matter. His chest . }
was crushed by the weight, _:
pushing all of the wind out of <
him, he said. rs

Beer and Reichert managed?
to barely escape the slide,
although their machines were,
buried, but later dug out and <

_testarted,

They located Olson right
away, and had him out within
15 minutes, . ‘
“They did an‘amazing job,”
said Doug Chabot, an
avalanche specialist with the _
Gallatin National Forest who
was in the area studying snow
at the time and responded to
the rescue.
“They saved his life, no
question.” |
Olson drifted into uncon-.
sciousness while under, but his
friends only had to clear his
airway after they extracted him
from the snow. 7
He said although he has
ridden in the area many times,
the experience of the slide will
change his snowmobiling
habits. .
, “Everybody keeps telling
me I’m lucky to get out of one;

but I don’t feel lucky to get’
into.one,” he said. .

“From now on, I’m going
to watch my places even better
than before.”



Daisy Pass rescue

- “I knew I was going to have one last

chance 'to take a big breath and put my

hands in front of my face beforeI .

stopped. That didn’t work though. I

tried, but when it stopped, the snow set
- up and crushed everything out of my

By RYAN SONES
Enterprise Staff Writer.

4) ~ Quick thinking, the right equipment, .
and a dramatic rescue saved a Billings
man Sunday who was buried in an

Snowmobiler buried by avalanche

about three feet under the snow. Olson
was somewhat inverted and his head
was another two or three feet deeper,
he said.

“After we took off his helmet, I
checked for.a pulse and there wasn’t

; avalanche near Cooke City. . body,” Olson continued. one. Then I noticed he wasn’t breath- -
i} “Scott Olson, 36, owes his: 2 wait ing either. I put my hand in
| | life to a few savvy snowm0-" :*:: pean his mouth and felt that he
: | -bilérs after being buried i in “ “ 5 had swallowed his tongue. I
| five feet of snow for almost y n fr tol myself, Lain’t dying today? pulled it out and a few sec-
10 minutes in Daisy Pass.” : : onds later he took a short
“That area had just iad “Avalanche survivor Scott Olson . gasp of breath,” Beer said.
received more than four oe a The entire rescue
feet of fresh snow, and ©’ ' took less than 10 minutes, he
{ avalanche conditions were said.

“Laying there I had thrée short
thoughts before I passed out. The first
was I hoped my transceiver was work-
ing because I knew those other guys
were riearby and would find me. Sec-
ond, I freaked and was scared. I finally \

| approaching their peak, said Scott
Schmidtiof the Gallatin National For-",
est Avalanche Center on Monday. ~

: Olson was ‘snowmobiling below two
other sledders Sunday afternoon when
they triggered.the snow to break free
above him, he said during a telephone
interview Monday.
[he two-other sledders, Don Beer
Tyler Reichert, both ‘of Columbus,
iped ‘the avalanche without injury,
although their machines were buried.

The wall of sliding snow swallowed

ut the rescue,:"
"He said it could not have been done
without the help of Reichert and others

Olsen after he was knocked off his “near the'séene. “° -»

snowmobile while trying to steer away _.- After working his way’ down the

from the slide. avalanche's destructive path, Béer
“] started trying to swim:like people’. finally got a reading from Olson’s

tell you to do and was doing fine until I
hit the first tree and felt my.leg break.
It hurt pretty bad,” Olson said.

| .. “Lwas able to get back near the.top

| of the avalanche and then bounced off
another tree with the same leg. Then I
hit the third tree and knew I was in

| trouble because I-was pushed under,”
he added. .

transceiver that said he was 80. meters.
away. f.

“A lot of. snow had moved. It was
about five.feet deep —T'd guess about
500 feet:wide — and almost 1,000-feet,
long.'It was big enough:to snap quite a
few trees,” Beer said.

Reichert and Beer then began dig-
ging furiously and found Olson’s Jeg

\ FRonT PAGE
_Tonoay - anumy 28,2062

Olson gained consciousness four or
five minutes.after he began gasping
for air, Beer said. A few minute later
Beer was able to talk to the weary
Olson.

“T asked him how it felt. ."He smiled
and said, ‘Good, really good,” Beer |
said.

“Without an avalanche beacon, a
good shovel and the experience we had

about what to do, he would have defi-
nitely died,” Beer said.

Beer's experience comes from hav-

ing been buried in an avalanche him-
self in 1991, he said.

Olson, owner of Extreme Machines,

a shop in Billings that sells snowmo-
biles, motorcycles and other racing
equipment, said an avalanche aware-
ness and rescue class will be planned
once he recovers.

“They knew what to do,” Olson said

of his rescuers. “Not only did they
have all the right equipment, they
knew] how to uses it. Otherwise I’d be
dead.’

IGSTON ENTERPRISE - CALL 222-20

livingston . EneePeise i



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER, ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

INCOME

Northern Region Partnership $15,000

Montana FW&P Rec. Trails Program $13,209

Region 1 Earmark $20,000

Gallatin County Search and Rescue $4,000

Friends of the Avalanche Center $5,350

Montana FW&P Snowmobile Safety $3,000

TOTAL CASH CONTRIBUTIONS $ 60,559
Gallatin National Forest $52,661

TOTAL GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST CONTRIBUTION $52,661
TOTAL INCOME $113,220
EXPENSES

Salaries $67,385

GNF operating costs! $28,800

Travel/Training $3,000

Misc. Equipment? $1,500

Snowmobiles equip/maintenance® $2,930

Administrative costs* $2,420

TOTAL EXPENSES ($106,035)
EXPECTED CARRYOVER $7,185

‘The operating costs incurred by the Gallatin National Forest include office space, supplies, mailings, computers, support
ersonnel, vehicles, gas, trailer and six phone lines among many other items.
Misc. equipment expenses the Gallatin NF incurred included: Digital camera, equipment repair, film, uniforms, etc.
® The Friends of the Avalanche Center paid for these expenses: Insurance, oil, delivery charges, covers, and trailer repairs.
4 The Friends of the Avalanche Center paid for these expenses: Beacons, software, teaching materials, dataloggers, and
educational handouts.

20



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST

AVALANCHE CENTER

2001-2002 Annual Report

(oe in



Avalanche dan

Pat Hill

Four snowmobilers killed in an
avalanche on Saturday in Missoula
County were riding in an area where
the Forest Service had warned of
high slide danger, but local officials
report fairly stable snow conditions
in southwest Montana.

“Avalanche danger is pretty
variable within our region, but it’s
looking fairly good,” said Scott
Schmidt, of the Gallatin National
Forest Avalanche Center, on Mon-
day, “Of course, even moderate
danger of an avalanche means
there’s a possibility of one.”
Schmidt said that one man was
buried in the Cooke City area on
Sunday, after the three snowmo-
biles in his group triggered a slide.

“They did a bang-up job on the
rescue,” said Schmidt. He said that
the man had stopped breathing by
the time rescuers got through the
four feet of snow burying him.
Schmidt said that the man survived,
but did break a leg in the avalanche.

‘The four men killed in Missoula
County on Saturday died of suffoca-
tion after being buried in 5 to 12 feet
of snow. The dead are identified as

Bradley Popham, 31, Lolo; Garrett
James Grothen, 29, Florence; Chris-
topher Michael Novak, 25, Missoula;
and Adam Louis Ployhar, 17,

Basic
ae Avalanche

Seminar

Potomac. All the men were experi-
enced snowmobilers equipped with
avalanche probes, shovels, and trans-
ceivers.

“They were someplace they

shouldn’t have been,” said Missoula
County Undersheriff Mike
McMeekin, according to the Associ-
ated Press (AP), The avalanche oc-
curred in a large bowl on Sheep
Mountain, northeast of Bonner.

The Montana Dept. of Transpor-
tation also reported that an avalanche
deposited up to 20 feet of snow along
a 200-foot section of U.S. Highway
2, near Essex, on Friday afternoon,
but no one was injured on the road,
According to officials, southwest
Montanahighways arenotin any ava-
Janche danger at present.

“At the moment, we have no
reasons to be concerned,” said
Maryanne Matthews, an adminis-
trative assistant with the Bozeman
division of the Montana Dept. of
Transportation. “We really aren’t
in the predicting business. ..we’re
more reactive than anything.”

The team at the Avalanche
Center is into predicting, however,
as evidenced by their avalanche
advisories. These comprehensive
telephone advisories, available at
587-6981, are updated daily with
fresh field data. The team covers
the area from the Gallatin and
Madison mountain ranges to

Cooke City, including Big Sky and
the Bridger range.

“The Bridgers are stable right
now,” said Schmidt. “If the wind
comes up it could be a different
story...there’s no obvious weak lay-
ers up there, however.” He said that
Big Sky is “healing up pretty good”
as well, with no obvious weak snow
layers present, though Monday's ava-
lanche advisory did warm of possible
snowslide danger on Lone Peak.

“We'll know more about
Cooke City area conditions tomor-
row,” said Schmidt, adding that
team member Doug Chabot, who
took part in Sunday’s Cooke City
rescue, was still assessing conditions
there on Monday.

Schmidt said that the northem
Gallatin range was “unstable early
on this season.”

“T wouldn’t jump up and
down and'say it’s all fixed,” said
Schmidt, who skied in the north-
ern Gallatin’s Mount Ellis area on
Sunday. “It wasn’t bad, but I
wouldn’t bet the bank on it.”

Schmidt added that conditions in
the Lionshead area near West
Yellowstone contain “isolated pock-
ets of really weak snow” that also pose

ger always a possible threat

a threat to winter recteationists.

“The snow is stable between
those pockets,” he said. “That can
cause complacency.” Schmidt said
that such complacency can lead to
what he termed a “dysfunctional
method of learning.”

. “Accidents are avoidable,” he
said. “Take an avalanche course
first.” Montana State University is
offering a course this week, with a
Basic Avalanche Seminar being
taught on Jan. 30-31.

“The seminar will cover haz-
ard recognition, route selection,
fundamental snowpack analysis,
and basic search and rescue pro-
cedures,” said Mike Cavaness, di-
rector of the ASMSU Outdoor
Recreation Center. “Our class is
applicable to all winter sport en-
thusiasts.” For information on this
seminar, as well as an advanced
course being taught on Feb. 6-7,
contact the Outdoor Recreation
Center at 994-3621.

“T'll be teaching the field
course portion of this week's semi-
nar at Bridger Bow] on Saturday,”
said Schmidt. “I urge people to
avoid the dysfunctional method of
Jearning about avalanches.”



l

J

| Doug ,
| pranks for Speabung, last week —
#0 our Sevies! You wore Awesme
eo, & usual! Eath time you Gomera, .
Yau on VS beter ther .
tit Last. We missed Aehold
Sus yew thoug” ! We lect a
pound 1” seeing you agen nek vie
yea lt Lm Sure Some bids
‘ll make 1% Class at MSY

Wt

tis weele fo.

Thunls fer al your efforts,
ile bool Suarave, eth



GALLATIN NATIOI ENTER. ANNUAL REPORT. =i

Table: 1 2001-2002 AVALANCHE EDUCATION

DATE INSTRUCTOR GROUP COURSE #|
5-Oct Chabot Avalanche Forecasters Meeting Snowmobile Ed 40)
10/29-11/1 Chabot/Johnson National Avalanche Schoo! Various Topics 200}
1-Nov Johnson National Avalanche School Rescue 200)
6-NovJohnson Chief Joseph 7th Grade Ava. Awareness 200}
7-Nov Chabot Barrel Mountaineering 20/20 Hindsight 70)
11-NovJohnson Local Ski Patrols Fracture Mechanics 50]
11-Nov Johnson Local Ski Patrols Weather Forecasts 50
14-NovJohnson Norther Lights Trading Co. Ava. Awareness 25)
17-Nov Johnson Big Sky Ski Patrol Fracture Mechanics 40)
19-Nov Johnson Lewistown Snowmobile Club —_ Ava. Awareness 25)
20-Nov Chabot Sacajewea 7th Grade Ava. Awareness 125)
21-NovChabot Pine Creek School Ava. Awareness 20
29-NovChabot/Johnson/Schmidt Team Bozeman Basic Avalanche 24)
30-NovChabot/Johnson/Schmidt Team Bozeman Basic Avalanche 24)
2-DecLundy Snowmobile Safety Instructors Ava. Awareness 70|
5-DecJohnson/Birkeland MSU Basic Avalanche 175)
6-DecJohnson/Birkeland MSU Basic Avalanche 175)
8-DecJohnson/Birkeland/Schmidt MSU Basic Avalanche 100}
10-Dec Schmidt Bozeman Ranger District Ava. Awareness 25)
12-Dec Schmidt Snowshoe Club Ava. Awareness 7
13-Dec Chabot Big Sky SAR 20/20 Hindsight 17
15-Dec Chabot/Johnson West Yell. Snowmobilers Basic Avalanche 14
15-Dec Johnson Groomers Ava. Awareness 30)
16-DecLundy Groomers Ava. Awareness 50|
16-Dec Chabot/Johnson Snowmobiler Field Session Basic Avalanche 14
17-Dec Schmidt Gallatin Co. SAR Ava. Awareness 30)
19-Dec Chabot West Yell. Snowmobilers Ava. Awareness AO!
6-Jan Chabot/Schmidt Snowmobiler Field Session Basic Avalanche 14
8-Jan Chabot/Johnson Region 1 Educators Workshop Teaching Skills 15]
12-Jdan Schmidt Big Sky SAR Ava. Awareness 10)
13-Jan Schmidt Big Timber Snowmobile Club Ava. Awareness 40)
10-Jan Chabot Timber Trails Ava. Awareness 75)
15-Jan Johnson Cooke City SAR Ava. Awareness 50]
17-Jan Chabot Prescott College Snowpits 12
19-Jan Johnson Prescott College Ava. Forecasting 10)
25-Jan Schmidt Morning Star 2nd Grade Ava. Dogs 85)
28-Jan Johnson Yellowstone Institute 20/20 Hindsight 18
29-Jan Johnson Yellowstone Institute Snowpack 16|
30-Jan Lundy Yellowstone Institute Various Topics 16)
30-Jan Johnson/Birkeland MSU Basic Avalanche 90)

31-Jan Johnson/Birkeland MSU Basic Avalanche a

2-Feb Johnson/Birkeland/Schmidt MSU Basic Avalanche 7
6-Feb Johnson MSU Advanced Avalanche 40|
7-FebJohnson MSU Advanced Avalanche 40}



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. __ ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

AVALANCHE EDUCATION

Avalanche education is a major focus of our operation. Although our advisories are educational,
we take it one step further by teaching formal classes on avalanche awareness, rescue, snow
dynamics etc., to a wide audience. Most of our lectures are one to two hours long, but we’re
increasingly doing more all day classes and field sessions. With the purchase of a slide
scanner and the acquisition of an InFocus projector we’re now able to create digital
presentations. This means we're no longer searching reams of slide sheets looking for lost
pictures! Everything is digitized, and with our new camera we're one step closer to creating
quick presentations. All of our lectures are now on CD and we're in the process of organizing
hundreds of our photos on disc for easy searching.

Besides offering education in southwest Montana, we've been fortunate to spread our
knowledge to other regions. We've taught snowmobile education across the state with classes
in Lewistown, Missoula, Helena, and Lewis and Clark National Forest. Additionally, through
funding from the National Avalanche Center, we created a one-hour PowerPoint presentation on
“Avalanche Awareness for Snowmobilers”. This program was handed out to avalanche
educators across the nation, including snowmobile safety instructors at clubs throughout the
west. Over 175 of these CDs were given away with thousands of snowmobilers seeing our
presentation. Snowmobilers are ripe for education and we want to reach as many as possible,
especially since they're leading the country in avalanche fatalities.

During peak times in December and January we got swamped with education requests that
created scheduling conflicts. We were reluctant to miss a teaching opportunity so we had Chris
Lundy, a master’s graduate at MSU and ski patroller at Bridger Bowl, teach three classes. He
created some breathing room in our schedule, and we anticipate using him even more next
year.

This past season we spent 202 hours teaching! This does not include preparation time or travel
which can be quite substantial. All of these efforts paid off with the attendance of over 2,700
people at 62 different classes (Table 1).

Some noteworthy education seminars included:

a The five day National Avalanche School, which was attended by over 200 avalanche

professionals.

a Advanced lectures on snow dynamics and rescue to the Bridger Bowl, Big Sky and
Yellowstone Club ski patrols.
An Avalanche Awareness lecture to all the 7” graders in Bozeman.
Two weekend avalanche courses for snowmobilers held in Bozeman and West
Yellowstone.
Two, multi-day Basic Avalanche Awareness Seminars and one Advanced Seminar
taught through MSU.
A snow dynamics and snow compaction lecture to snowmobile groomers.
Workshops for the Big Sky and Gallatin County Search and Rescue groups.
Aworkshop on Avalanche Education for Region 1 Forest Service staff.
Two days with various Special Forces on Department of Defense training.

oo

Oo

oooo



4 December 20, 2001 — WEST YELLOWSTONE NEWS

CuV lewpoinis

Avalanche Center an invaluabl

Few of us know or are
willing to acknowledge
when the federal govern-
ment develops a grass-
roots program that is a
genuine response to our
community's neéds.

But on occasion, our
government works for us
in such a way that nothing
but clear and positive
results are the outcome.

Such is the case with
the Gallatin National
Forest Avalanche Center,
based in Bozeman.

Quite often, the cen-
ter’s three avalanche gurus
— Karl Birkeland, Doug
Chabot and Ron Johnson
— risk life and limb (while
having more than a little
fun) to report snow condi-

tions around Southwestern

Montana.

They have two adviso-
ry hotlines, one for West
Yellowstone, Bozeman,
Livingston and Gardiner
— 587-6981 — and another
for Cooke City — 838-2341.

By calling the hotline,
you will receive informa-
tion regarding backcountry
and ski area observations.
Snowmobilers, backcoun-
try skiers, snowshoers and
others use the information

every day in order to pre-
pare themselves for
Montana’s vastly unpre-
dictable snow and weather
conditions. For four of the .
last five years, our state
has led the nation in
avalanche deaths, including
seven last year.

With more and more
people seeking good snow
and backcountry condi-
tions, the Avalanche
Center should be an inte-
gral part.of people who will
be entering avalanche tér-
rain. |

The center also spends
a good deal of their time
educating the public by
presenting workshops and
lectures that focus on using
proper judgment and hon-
ing one’s skills in the back-
country.

Last weekend, Chabot
and Johnson led a two-day
course in avalanche aware-
ness for snowmobilers. The
first day was a five-hour
lecture and slide show that
brought out snowmobile
guides and riders who
were able to learn what to
watch for while out riding.
The following day was a
five-hour field session that
covered issues of weather,

aotawe ae

e asset

terrain, avalanche forma-
tion, rescue, stability tests
and rider safety.

It was the first class of

‘its kind ever held in West

Yellowstone. Another class
is held in Bozeman, with
last year being their first
experience with the two-
day course. The center has
received accolades, as they
are the first in the country
to hold such an event; and
every effort to thank and
support them is not only
worthwhile, but also neces-
sary in order to ensure
their continued efforts.
What the Gallatin
National Forest Avalanche
Center has done since its
inception in 1990 is immea-
surable, but one thing is
for certain: their dedication
certainly casts a shining
light on the U.S. Forest
Service. To help support
the center, write to:
Friends of the Avalanche
Center, P.O. Box 6799,
Bozeman, Montana 5977. 1,
or call 587-6984. They also
have a web site at
www.mtavalanche.com and
can be reached by e-mail at
gnfac@avalanche.org.



United States Department of the Interior

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
PO Box 168
Yellowstone National Park
Wyoming 82190

IN REPLY REFER TO:
Becky Heath February 1, 2002
Gallatin National Forest Supervisor
P.O. Box 130
Bozeman, MT 59771

Dear Ms. Heath,

On behalf of the Yellowstone Park Lamar Rangers (Brian Chan, Mike Ross, Bundy Phillips) I would like to
extend my sincere thanks to the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Forecast Center, particularly Ron Johnson
for teaching part of the annual.Cooke City Avalanche Rescue Training conducted on January 15, 16 & 17, 2002
Numerous positive comments were paid to Ron for his excellent teaching skills. Ron taught snow pack stability
analysis and avalanche rescue beacons to the class. The class consisted of over 40 participants from Gallatin
and Shoshone National Forests; Yellowstone National Park; Fremont County SAR, Idaho; Park County SAR,
MT, Cooke City SAR; Yellowstone Ecological Research Center and others. It is quite obvious that Ron
contributes well more than what it would take to teach an average class. His knowledge and experience of snow
avalanche, mountain travel and general outdoor skills is top notch. Several of the class participants told me and
others that Ron “...really knows his stuff’. We hope to continue coordinating these training sessions in future
years and look forward to calling upon the GNFAC for their assistance.

Thank you very much for allowing these individuals to contribute their knowledge and skills to make this
training better and better every year.

Sincerely,

duels

Bundy Phillips
Lamar Sub District Ranger
Yellowstone National Park

cc: Yellowstone Chief Ranger’s Office
Yellowstone Training Documentation Office
Yellowstone Superintendent’s Office



TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2002

The latest
gear useless
without

_ knowledge _

he.recent steady march of sriow-
storms is holding forth the promise

-.0f a go0d.dld-fashioned winter for. -
" “western Montana. That’s great news
‘for skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers
who have been bemoaning a succession of
drought-strickén winters.

But it can also spell bad news — the
worst -—for those who venture into. the
backcountry unprepared. Witness the
tragic avalanche deaths of four snowmobil-

ers in Missoula County Saturday.
* Winter backcountry recreation has
enjoyed explo-
sive growth as
legions of the’ . The weekerid’ s.
_ young and’ :
healthy venture - -[ ft our .
farther, afield i in |. “snowmobile
victims. in'the
Bitterroot
th «Mountains
ese’ sports’. » i ee
popularity has were'in an area
also prompted for which the .
an explosion in” Forest Service
athe recreation
"ear industry,” > ‘had issued a
{Catalogs piolif- |“ high avalanche
‘danger’
‘avalanche: “warning ©
‘xransponders for ‘
H Jocating victims,
{telescoping probes for penetrating
avalanche debris. and “Avalungs,” devices
ee help thé buried breathe'while‘rescuers
arch. ole vere

* But the most important avalaiithe pto-

q fection device of all : knowledge’ is‘hot
found ina catalog. 2
ti : The four’snowmobile victims were _

' ‘among a group of 10 who were well-

+ tr equipped with the latest in avalanche res-
13 ‘cue gear, and they were not in a restricted
area. They were, however, in an ared for

i} which the Forest Service had issued a high

{ avalariche danger warning.

[ Here on the Gallatin National Forest

' that type of information is issued daily.

| That advisory can be accessed by dialing
587- -6981; Monday’s advisory relayed °
news of a snowmobiler who was buried.
pn an avalanche:in ‘the Cooke City area
Sunday. The snowmobiler was found and
trevived but suffered a broken leg in the.

H incident:

‘The daily avalanche information is a
vital component for.any backcountiy, ©

H ‘ Fecreationist’s s plans, but it must be accom-
: ‘panied by some basic knowledge about
:avalanche-safe behavior;

{A visit to the Gallatin National Forest

| vtanche Center Web site (http://www.
{mtavalanche.com) will yield information
q on local avalanche hazard workshops open.
fo the public, These workshops just require
a reasonable fee and a time commitment,
but the payoff. could be invaluable. ~

+: Winter is atime of unparalleled oppot-

tiunity for exhilarating adventure in the

2; Northern Rockies. But that adventure

‘ould turn deadly — as it did for the

} Bitterroot snowmobilers — without some

basic équipment, the ability to use it, and
fnowledge .



GALLATIN NATIONAL FORE: HE Ci ER AL RI 1T 2001-2002

Colder temperatures mean the snow will be less dense which translates into easy wind loading.
Slopes near the ridgetops will have the most sensitive slabs so you'll want to use extra caution if
you decide to play on any of these today.

For the southern Gallatin, southern Madison and the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, |
consider the avalanche danger to be CONSIDERABLE on recently wind-loaded slopes steeper
than 35 degrees. On all other slopes | consider the avalanche danger to be MODERATE.
Remember, a “considerable” danger means that natural avalanches are possible and human
triggered ones are probable.

The Washburn Ranges, and the mountains around Cooke City:

There are very few absolutes in the snow business, except for the fact that it always snows in
Cooke City. At least that’s the way its been feeling lately! They received another 6 inches, or
half inch of water yesterday. The snowpack here has been continuously loaded since last
Thursday, with a total of four inches of water. Some ski areas in Colorado haven't had that
much snow all year! The forecasting dilemma is actually pretty simple. More snow equals more
avalanches. Add wind and a weak layer on south-facing slopes and we've got a problem.

Wind-loaded slopes will be touchy today, even those not very steep. My partner and | saw
numerous natural avalanches on Monday, and with constant snowfall, | see no reason to think
that the avalanche danger got any better. South-facing slopes have the added concern ofa
buried weak layer now three to four feet down. We were able to trigger a slide on this layer, as
were other people. My recommendation is that you stay off of anything wind-loaded and
avoid south-facing slopes. There are plenty other slopes to play on without exposing yourself
to additional danger.

For today, for the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range, the avalanche
danger is HIGH on wind-loaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees and CONSIDERABLE on all
other wind-loaded slopes. Slopes without wind loading will be MODERATE. Remember a
“high” danger means that natural and human triggered avalanches are likely.

Ron will issue tomorrow's advisory at 7:30 am. If you get out in the backcountry, we would

appreciate any snow and avalanche information. You can leave a message at 587-6984 or e-
mail us at gnfac@avalanche.org.

27



NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES



GALLATI ENTE! ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

EXAMPLE OF AN AVALANCHE ADVISORY

Internet: www.mtavalanche.com
E-mail: gnfac@avalanche.org

Gallatin National Forest Recorded Information:
* Bozeman, Livingston,
Avalanche Advisory West Yellowstone, Cooke City:
Wednesday, March 13", 2002 406-587-6981

Office: 406-587-6984

Good morning, this is Doug Chabot with your Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory
issued on Wednesday, March 13", at 7:30 am. Gallatin County Search and Rescue,
supported by the local taxpayers, is the sponsor of today’s advisory. This advisory does not
apply to operating ski areas.

CURRENT CONDITIONS AND WEATHER DISCUSSION:

Yesterday the temperatures dropped, the winds calmed, and the snow fell. Our northern
mountains got four to eight inches of new, dense snow, while our southern mountains picked up
two to four inches. Cooke City, like a greedy child, grabbed another six inches. Ridgetop winds
were ripping at 40 to 60 mph yesterday, but calmed as the cold front arrived and are now at 10-
20 mph out of the west to northwest. Mountain temperatures have cooled to around 10
degrees, and should warm into the high teens today. We've still got some moisture in the air,
although most of it is grazing the Wyoming border. | expect another one to three inches of new
snow in our southern mountains today, while the north could just see a trace.

SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION:

The Bridger, northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges:

The snowfall definitely favored our northern areas with eight inches in the Bridgers and five to
six inches around Big Sky. The storm started out quite warm and got colder as it progressed,
which we like to see since it keeps the lighter snow on top. Unfortunately, in many areas the
first few inches of snowfall was graupel. These pellets of snow should bond quickly, however,
we received some reports of skiers that were able to easily sluff all the new snow because of its
ball-bearing like nature. Even though wind speeds decreased, they are still blowing strong
enough at the ridgetop levels to move the snow around. Areas that have a slab sitting on top of
this may be sensitive to triggering today. The good news is that it shouldn’t be widespread.
Given the overall strength of the snowpack, | think it can handle this new load quite well.

For today, for the Bridgers, northern Gallatin and northern Madison Ranges, | consider the
avalanche danger MODERATE on all wind-loaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Slopes
without wind loading will have a LOW avalanche danger.

The southern Gallatin, southern Madison Ranges and the Lionhead area near West
Yellowstone:

Our southern mountains, from the Yellowstone Ciub to West Yellowstone, received another two
to four inches last night. These areas keep getting enough snow to keep us on our toes.

26



Avalanche ERT

\oiding, surviving ¢ are matters of preparation, smarts

(erg Lee af phocogapher
‘CAMPBELL OF LINCOLM, x siicwrinoblls safety Instructor and an avalanche survivor, stands next tothe swowinebile he wad riding whea the avalanche occorred.

overed i in seconds. Buried for minutes. Felt like forever.

‘By MARTIN 1. Kinston” ip! -qafernlistructobarund made @ pass across. He did
AR Staff Writer for the Ponderoun Sndw War- it thee'tImes and it looked all
— iors snowmobile club ii Line right tome.”

B uried under two fect of _cotn, was unlike the average arlier in the day, Campbell

snow, Jeff Campbell was rider. He was educated in jad seen the snow slough off the
thinking about his preg- avalanche safety. He wore an _side of the road. A heavy snow-
nant wife and three kids, hoping avalanche beacon. He knew the fall had set in the ptior week.
his friends could hone in on his §now that day was weak. The But Campbell positioned his sled
slope, he saw, was more than 30 anyway and pointed it across the
degrees. It was prime avalanche open slope. Watching his friend

Itwas a race against time and terrain and slid¢ conditions dash across the opening had
‘Campbell! knew it, were ripe. silenced the little voice in the

‘The memory of that day in But what Campbell knew and back of his mind — the one say-
February of Just year on the what he did were two different ing this was a mistake
North Fork of the Blackfoot things. The difference between “I got half-way across and I
River is still fresh in Campbell's the two, he said, nearly killed _noticed all the snow was moving
memory: How the snow broke him. around in from of me,” Camp-
loose. How thie slab swept him "We made our way into a bell said. “I saw big slabs of

down the mountain. How the - clearcut and we rode around the

to read the snow and live. ~ aebris piled up on top of him. bottom. One of the guys went up ‘More BURSED, page 9A



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER: ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

20 WAYS WE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN 2001-2002

This season we’re proud to list many new accomplishments. We reached more people than
ever before through our advisories and taught a record number of education classes. Every
year our goal is to build upon the previous season, and this winter was very successful.

1. Our advisories were accessed 1,291 times a day through our email service, web page,
phone lines and faxes. This is a 16% increase over last year and a 370% increase from
5 years ago.

2. Our email subscription service was upgraded at the beginning of year. It’s now easier to
mail, attach photos and track our subscribers.

3. We taught 62 avalanche education programs reaching 2,700 people.

4. We increased our snowmobile education efforts through two, multi-day avalanche
classes held in Bozeman and West Yellowstone. Additionally, over 450 snowmobilers
attended our education programs.

5. There were three live recoveries of completely buried snowmobilers using avalanche
transceivers. Two of these incidents involved rescuers who had been trained through
our programs.

6. We created an “Avalanche Awareness for Snowmobilers” PowerPoint presentation and
instructors manual. This was distributed to over 175 educators and snowmobile clubs
throughout the country.

7. We purchased a digital camera and started putting photos in our advisories.

8. Anew “Accident Reports” page was added to our web site allowing us to display photos
and reports of various accidents that happened throughout the winter.

9. Both Ron and Doug taught at the prestigious National Avalanche Schoo! last fall. Over
200 avalanche professionals attended this weeklong course.

10. Doug lectured to the Western Chapter of the International Snowmobile Association in
Jackson, WY. They requested 100 copies of our “Avalanche Awareness for
Snowmobilers” CD that they distributed to snowmobile clubs throughout the west.

11. We recruited Chris Lundy to help us teach our avalanche awareness programs since it
became increasingly difficult to meet the rising demand for our classes.

12. Recognizing that our advisories are read more often than heard, we attempted to
become better writers. The Friends hired Ginger Birkeland to edit our advisories and
improve our writing style.

13. We secured more funding for Scott Schmidt, which allowed him to work over 32 hours a
week. His increased presence meant we were able to offer more education classes and
get more field data.

14. In January, we hosted a Regional Conference for Forest Service personnel on educating
snowmobilers about avalanches. This “Educating the Educators” workshop was
attended by people across the state and resulted in two cover stories in the Helena
Independent Record.

15. Every month we wrote articles relating to avalanches in the Montana Snowmobile
Association News and Carve, a winter supplement to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

16. Our advisory was published every Wednesday in the Outdoor Section of the Billings
Gazette.

17. Polaris, along with a local snowmobile shop Team Bozeman, loaned the Friends two
sleds for our use this winter. This allowed us to investigate avalanches which otherwise
would've been inaccessible, and let us make personal contact and educate hundreds of
riders.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

CONTRIBUTIONS OF LABOR AND EQUIPMENT

The GNFAC requires a community wide effort for its success. This effort is typified by the
number of corresponding agencies and businesses, and in the number of people who volunteer
their time or call in observations. Once again, the information network we use for collecting and
sharing snowpack and weather information continued to operate efficiently.

We estimate the value of all the donated time is in excess of $14,000. Certainly without this
network of volunteers we would not be able to operate in our current capacity. Besides
volunteer labor, we're fortunate that many companies have donated gear and supplies.

Some “official” agencies and businesses include the National Weather Service, The Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Big Sky Ski Area, Bridger Bowl Ski Area, the
Yellowstone Club, Cooke City Bike Shack, Ace Powder Guides, the Forest Service offices in
West Yellowstone, Bozeman and Gardiner, and the National Park Service offices in Canyon and
the Northeast Gate.

A host of “unofficial” volunteers called in observations on a regular basis. Given that we’re
information starved many days, we appreciate all the calls and emails we get about current
snow conditions. Over 60 people fall into this category.

On most days of the week one of us can be expected to be outside gathering data for the
advisories. With our small staff it’s difficult to get out amongst ourselves, so instead we rely on
a group of volunteers to go out in the field with us. This year Ed Adams, Conrad Anker, Karl
Birkeland, Bob Brown, Jeff Deems, Randy Elliot, Marty Faulkner, Scott Gill, Annie Grogan, Cliff
Gullett, Matt Hill, Joel Lee, Chris Landry, Chris Lundy, Beth McConnell, Ladean McKittrick, Brian
McNeil, Dan Miller, Molly Merica, Alan Oram, Lance and Christine Riek, Drew Seessel, RA
Schmidt, Jeannie Wall, Ralph Wiegmann, Greg Winston, Mike Wood and Jamie Yount took time
to safely accompany us in the field, even during marginal skiing conditions.

Matt Vandzura is a ranger out of Canyon in Yellowstone National Park. He feeds us crucial
snowpack observations about the Washburn Range, which get incorporated into our advisories.

Jim Earl deserves a special mention for his volunteer work on our web site. He helped us
overcome the hurdle of attaching pictures to our advisories, created an “Accident Reports” web
page, put the Annual Report on our site, and was the general “web guru’” for all our problems.
His expertise was appreciated by everyone who surfed onto our website.

Christine Riek once again came through with troubleshooting computer problems. Last year
she wrote a program that compiles the confusing weather data we look at every morning and
reformats it into an easily read table. Unfortunately, the format in which we get the data from
NRCS changed, so she had to massage the code in some mysterious way in order for it to
work. Needless to say, her brilliance made our lives infinitely easier at 4:30 in the morning as
we stumbled around the office half asleep.

Northern Lights Trading Company

This local store has been supporting the Avalanche Center since its inception. Every year they
work with K2 and Black Diamond on our behalf to loan us boots and skis for the year. This year
we were once again outfitted in K2 Skis and Terminator boots from Scarpa/BD.

17



From Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center,

MSA NEWS, January 2001 7

Bozeman

Good elk hunting may mean a bad avalanche year

‘season, I start hoping for a Utue bit of that makes {6r a good hunt. You need
‘snow and some good cold temperatures. “some snow to quiet things down and
As an avalanche professional, | know. give you good tracking. Not a lot of
this Is a stupid thing to do, but I can't - snow! We donit want to be out there
help It. You see. when It comes to elk wading around in two feet of the stuf

By Scott Schmidt
Avalanche Specialist
Gallatin National Forest.
‘Avalanche Center

Every year, come mid-September, I
‘start wishing a winteris worth of mis-
ery on myself. In anticipation af elk

hunting, I need all the help Tcan get.

About six inches to a foot is perfect.

thathas spentmuch time . Then we need cold temperatures. Not

Everyone
Aunting elk knows the type of weather

a litle pitiful bit of cold. No sir, we need
that good olf Montana style, freeze-
syour-nose-hairs-to-your-mustache,
‘cold—that good cold weather that drives
. the elk dawn out of the park so we can
hunt them. Unfortunately for those of
us who like tq spend our winters play-
ing in the snow, this is the recipe for a!
bad avalanche year. The reason is a
snow process we call ifaceting!. After
about a week of these really cold tem-
peratures, the “snow _ has

jetamorphosed, some say. It
‘nas all turnéd to loosely bonded sugar
snow, otherwise known as faceted.
Now the tracking {8 terrible!, The anow
wonit hold its shape, ’and you canst be
sure if the tracks you see are those of
the biggest bull eli in the history of the
planet, or your buddy. Bob's. big ol

size twelves.

‘Snow falls out of the sky in many
forms. Sometimes it falls as big,
iCharlté Brown Christmas! flakes.
Other times it falls in hafd, little toe
balls, known as graupal' “Regardless
of the crystal type-that larids ‘on the
ground, chariges inthe crystal form
start to take place tinmediately. “The
driving force behind these changes is
metrological conditions in the atmo-
sphere—you know—the weather.
Sometimes the weather conditions

cause the snow, cystas to bond to.

gether! Ta
the bo ponds to eres

ery be surprising but the snow-

Pack s mostly made up of very molst
afr fling all the spaces between the
snow particles. Light, fufly powder’
thathas Just fallen from the Montana
sly Is typically 90-95% atr: Even-old,

well-bonded snow, that has been on
the ground awhile, is around 60% afr.
Now, everyone knows that warm air
can hold more molsture then cold alr,
and most folks know that—in nature—
things like to move fromi areas of high
concentration to areas of low concen-

tration (like people—moving from Call-

fornia to Montana). SoOif warm alr
can hold’ more moisture then e9id air,
and things like to move from areas of
high concentration to areas of low con-
centrations. then It stands) to tedson’
that motsture'in the sitwpack wants
to move from warin areas to cold ar-

‘eas where the moisture content is lower,
‘Because of all the air that is tn it, snow
1s agreat inoulator, Once the ground is,
Dlanketed with a layer, tt 19 protected
from freezing air temperatures. “As a
esult, the ground in the mountains of
Montana remains unfrozen and the
temperature at the bottom of the snow-
Pack is always ‘near 32 degrees Fahr-

enhelt. During a good cold spell, the
temperature at the top of thie suowpack
is usually as cold aa the alr. Nighttime
temperatures drop to ten or fifteen be~

Jow for good elk hunting weather. Ina

shallow snowpack (such as the gne'in
our scenario) this results in a rapid
niovement of molsture from the bottom
of the snowpack toward the top. “The
temperature of the snowpack cools-as,
‘we move toward ‘the euurface and,’ at
some pont, the air In the pore spaces
can no longer support the moisture that
ls moving in from’ the bottom af the:
pack. This moisture freezes to enow
‘erystals in the upper part of the pack.
Water can go from a solid-to a vapor
without going through a lquid phase (a
process called sublimation),’ and this
supplies a conlinuoiis source of mois-
ture for transport from the bottom of
the snowpack to the top. Unfortunately
for us sledheads, this moisture supply
‘comes from the bonds that hold the

snowpack together. “After several days ~

‘of cold temperatures, that atx to twelve
Inches of anow that made for good hunt-
ng has become unconsolidated, sugary.
gitongp. “Abd then Here comes winr

‘Reinember last season, That lttle

tt got oald., Coldest November tn a fong
me - or 86 they say. . Your elk was
butchered ‘and In the freezer. Your

Dit of sriow early in November and thea ”

thoughts turi to tlie sweet sound of a

[Powerful two-stroke hdrnessed ta along
track. ‘It was Christmas, just starting
to snow, and you had some time away
from the grind. You loaded up the sled
and head for thie hills: There was only
‘one problem, All that snow was falling
.on the weak. sugary, faceted crystals
‘that formed during elk season. -Kindal
Uke stacking a pallet af cinder blocks

on’Styrofoam packing peanuts. “Next _

thing you know people were dieing in
avalanches all up and down the Rocky
Mountains‘and them boys dawn at the
“Avalanche Center are harping aboist a
weak snowpack and a high avalanche
danger. Almost makes'a person wish It
hadnit been quite so easy to get ar‘ elle
‘why, Fthinkthat fella.iSchmudty, down
at the avalanche center, was the only
one that didn’t fil his tag last season,



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GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE

_ Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Survival gear no match for snow in avalanche

By SUSAN GALLAGHER
Associated Press Writer

HELENA — The victims all car-
Tied the essential avalanche sur-
vival gear: special locator beacons,
snow probes, even shovels for dig-
ging out. But in the end, all of it
was of no use for four snowmobil-
ers trapped and killed in a week-
end avalanche.

Experts say it is an unfortunate
reminder that while safety gear is
important, it is not a free pass to
disregard hazard warnings.

“Some people start to feel that
because they've got the gear, some-
how they're going to be able to
come out OK,” Scott Schmidt, an
avalanche specialist for the Gal-
latin National Forest, said Monday.

Two days earlier, four éxperi-
encéd snowmobilers died invan av-
alanche that trapped them under
up to 20 feet of snow northeast of
Missoula, in a high-risk area for
snowslides.

Missoula County Undersheriff
Mike McMeekin said the men, who
suffocated, were “someplace they
shouldn't have been.”

The area was not restricted, but
the Forest Service had warned the
avalanche risk was high,
McMeekin said.

Killed Saturday were’ Garrett
Grothen, 29; Christopher Novak,
25; Adam Ployhar, 17; and Bradley
Popham, 31, all of the Missoula
area. They were in a group of 10
snowmobilers.

The deaths pushed to 339 the
number of people killed in U.S. av-
alanches since the winter of 1985-
86, according to the Colorado
Avalanche Information Center.

Montana ranks fourth nationally,
behind Alaska, Colorado and Utah
in the number of avalanche deaths.

When the Montana slide struck
on Saturday, the party was
equipped with locator beacons,
shovels and avalanche probes. The
equipment is a safety net, but with
large holes, Schmidt said.

“One out of three victims dies
whether they have a beacon or not,
because they get beaten to death” by
debris during the snowslide, he said.

A survivor of the weekend slide,
Jason Stapleton, 24, of Missoula,
dug out the four victims and said
two had slammed into trees.

Apart from the risk of fatal trau-
ma, people swept up in avalanches

66

Some people start to feel that because they've got the
gear, somehow they're going to be able to come out OK.

— Scott Schmidt, avalanche specialist for Gallatin National Forest

stand a diminishing chance of sur-
vival if they are not reached within
15 minutes, Schmidt said.

“It’s not that easy to find a bea-
con and reach someone in that
amount of time, without practice,”
he said.

The $250-$300 transceivers are
worn next to the body and send a
signal; rescuers can home in on the
beacon to find the buried person.
To pick up the signal, the rescuer
must wear a transceiver, as well.

He-said use of transceivers has
risen, as has the ability to take
snownlobiles onto steep slopes
where the threat of an avalanche
may be particularly high. The in-
formal competition among snow-
mobilers to “high mark” steep

99

slopes has moved onto more dan-
gerous terrain as snowmachines
have become more powerful.

Snow that moves in an avalanche
bonds quickly and “people who
have been caught in it talk about
how it felt like they were poured in
concrete,” Schmidt said.

On Sunday, a snowmobiler was
rescued by companions after he be-

.came trapped in an avalanche in

the Cooke City area, near the
northeastern corner of Yellowstone
National Park.

On Monday, avalanche special-
ists went to the scene of Saturday's
deadly slide northeast of Missoula,
in an attempt to figure out what
caused it.



SNOW ADVISORY —

Good friends save lives when backcountry avalanche

sweeps through Daisy Pass

| just finished digging my
snowpit and was strapping my
pack onto the back of the
snowmobile when | heard over
the radio, “There’s been an
avalanche at Daisy Pass, and one
snowmobiler is buried.” Talk
about a shot of adrenaline. | was
a few miles away at Lulu Pass
with Cliff, who was helping me
get field data for the Avalanche
Center. | shouted the information
to him, pulled the starter cord
and hit the accelerator. Cliff was
right behind me thinking, “What

have I gotten myself into?”

twas blowing and snowing that Sunday,
with over 3 feet of snow falling in the previous two
days. Given the new snow and wind, the
avalanche danger was rising throughout the day.
‘Our snowpit was showing some deeper weakness,
and with the weekend crowd riding hard, |
‘commented that I'd be surprised if we escape the
day without an avalanche. Moments later the call.

{Small-Grained Facets

Bed Surface =Ice Crust

Doug Chabot

to use this trail as a precaution
and we promptly followed their
advice,

Concerned about further
avalanche danger Cliff set up a
staging area off to the side, out of
the way of any future slides.
While | administered first aid and
waited for rescue supplies, | was
able to interview the injured rider
Scott, and his partners Donnié
and Tyler. Their story is a perfect
example of how to respond in an
emergency and implement an
effective rescue.

All three of them were ridi

came.
‘We arrived at the bottom of the avalanche
path and met a rider who was in contact with
people at the scene via a small walkie-talkie. She
told us they dug out the victim and that he was
alive, conscious and suffered a broken leg. | sighed
in relief. A body recovery wasn’t high on the
agenda for the day. As Cliff and 1 hiked up the
slope, it became apparent that the snowmobilers
cn the scene really had their act together. Because
an unavalanched slope loomed above exposing
rescuers, they broke a foot ail through the safety
of the trees to the accident site, They yelled to us

shallow gully with steep, open
sides. Donnie and Tyler were sledding downhill,
while Scott was gunning upwards when the
avalanche was triggered. Donnie, furthest uphill,

bank a few steps. His sled was swallowed under 6
feet of debris. Tyler, in the middle, was able to get
to the edge of the avalanche where he was
separated from his snowmobile. He was OK,
although his sted was crushed against some trees.

(More on Avalanche, page 14)

Avalanchefirom page 13

Coming up the hill, Scott saw the
avalanche and tried to veer away.
Slammed by the full force of the slide
he tried to hang on to the handlebars,
but got ripped off, tumbled and
banged against trees breaking his
lower leg. Swimming in the debris,
he tried making an air pocket as the
slide slowed and solidified around
him. He panicked hoping his
avalanche transceiver was working,
but realized that everything was out
of his hands. His life now rested in
the hands of his friends.

Luckily for him, they were
capable hands. Donnie and Tyler
immediately realized that Scott was
buried and tumed their transceivers
to “receive” so they could pick up
Scott's lone signal. Within minutes,

Fem 2002

this electronic lifeline led them close
to his position. Tyler turned his
beacon off and got a shovel ready as
Donnie finished the search,
pinpointing Scotts location. They
both began digging and struck his leg
3 feet down. Lower still was his head.

‘After more digging and removing his

helmet, Donnie was able to clear his,
airway, which allowed Scott to begin
gasping for air. He was alive.

‘They uncovered him within a
crucial 15-minute window. Statistics
‘bear out that an avalanche victim has a
90 percent chance of survival if they'te
uncovered in 15 minutes. After a half
an hour the survival rate drops to
below 50 percent and continues to
plummet as the minutes tick by.

We splinted his leg and drug him

CARNE

off the slope to the competent
volunteers of the Cooke City Search
and Rescue. It was refreshing lo see an
accident like this have a happy ending.
‘All too often we read about death and
tragedy, yet stories like this can be eye-
opening experiences. When faced with
horrible circumstances these guys
umed the situation ‘around and came
out the other end as heros.

Donnie and Tyler saved their
friends life. Carrying proper rescue
gear was only half the story. These
tools, together with their combination
of avalanche education and calm
demeanor in the heat of battle, gave
Scott his best chances of survival.

Doug Chabot is the director of
the Gallatin National Forest
‘Avalanche Center.



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Montana

Knowing avalanche conditions

critical
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON, IR Staff Writer - 01/04/02

Check before you go.
Changing snow conditions and Monday’s death of
a 21 year-old man in a slide west of Deer Lodge
have Montana’s avalanche experts reminding
winter recreationists to proceed into the
backcountry with caution.
Doug Chabot, an avalanche specialist with the
Southwest Montana Avalanche Center in
Bozeman, said snow conditions are monitored
several times a week, and updates are posted
daily.
In southwest Montana, the northern Gallatin
Mountains currently have the weakest and most
unstable snow conditions in the area, Chabot
said.
Snow pack in the range has shown signs of
widespread collapsing and cracking, warranting
the Avalanche Center to label the area’s
avalanche danger as “considerable” on all slopes
greater than 35 degrees and “moderate” on
lesser slopes.
Chabot said that on Wednesday winds up to 40
mph in the Bridger and Madison ranges were
strong enough to remove surface snow from
some slopes, depositing it on the lee side of
ridges to create wind slabs up to one foot deep.
Chabot said that reports from the Bridger and
Madison ranges also found wind slabs to be
fragile enough that cracks propagated through
the crusted snow to trigger several small slides.
The conditions in the two ranges have prompted
a “moderate” avalanche danger on slopes over
35 degrees and “tow” on ail lesser slopes.
“We dig holes and try to figure out if the snow is
stable or unstable,” Chabot said. “We ask
ourselves if things are getting stronger or weaker

and wa, tale that infarmation and nut it inta an

n/rednews/2002/01/04/build/montana/1C4.html



“Aber, Jesse" To:
<jaber@state.mt.us> ce:

*, cc:
02/08/02 11:47 AM Subject: FW: This Service

infac @avalanche.org"" <gnfac@avalanche.org>

Doug, Ron, Scott -

Your service and site are state-of-the-art and as a former back-country
skier and middle-aged still try some extreme when I get the chance skier,
I want to commend you guys and gals, if there are some involved too, for
the great work you are doing.

I forwarded your subscription address to Roy Kaiser, NRCS Snow Survey
chief in Bozeman who was aware of the site but is so busy, did not get to
it. He thanked me and agreed that all intelligence is important when we
are talking about snow dynamics and avalanches. I'm sure he gets inquiries
from back-country enthusiasts now and then and now he can forward them to
you. He probably has been doing that already.

Roy is a member of the Montana Governor's Drought Advisory Committee whcih
I have staffed since its inception by statute in 1991. Our eyes are
riveted to the SnoTel while we hope for the water supply to shape up. I
know what is happening in the mountains, in large part, from your report
and of course, my ski outings. I have skied Bridger for 30 years, but had
to give up buying passes there years ago due to moving for grad school and
work. Bozeman skiers are spoiled to have BB. If I hear them complain I
give them grief. Although Showdown is an under-rated area and not too far
away, relatively no one from Bozeman has EVER skied there.

I took Snow Dynamics as an MSU freshman in 1971 from C.C. Bradley and John
Montagne and was ever so thankful of my new awareness of the nature of
snow as we skied into Daisy Pass outside of Cooke City in the early 70s
often to stay in the old cabin up there below Crown Butte. Back then,
there were occasionally some local 'beelers but mostly test teams from the
midwest that came in spring. And we had Yellowstone to ourselves!!! Skiers
only.

Nowadays, the largest potential benficiary group for your service is the
‘beeling commuity. For years they were the least informed and often
arrogant back country users. Although I hitched a few rides with them when
rude friends left me at the trail head with the heaviest loads and I was
in a hurry to cut some tracks near he cabin or get set up and my pack off!
It was fun passing the ski buddies on the trail, to their dismay.

Now, thanks to folks like you and the classes offered, all back country
users are getting with it. One year not too long ago, the number of back
country avalanche fatalities of 'beelers exceeded that of skiers and
snowshoers and that trend will continue. I want to take a refresher course
soon and will try to time a trip to see my folks, who live in Bridger
Canyon, with a course offering.

I especially like to hear your admonitions about exposure to release zones
and dep zones. Many times I had a ridge hippie behind me at BB say what on
earth are you waiting for as I let the skier ahead traverse and cross a
chute solo. My response was usually terse (unless it was a cute babe) "To
limit our exposure!" Powder makes people crazy and they forget.

Thanks for the work you do and we support you 100 percent!!

Jess Aber, Staff
Gov.'s Drought Committee



 ARuIea ‘soyourerene ynoqe Wet OTE, OF s]UE||O STY LM OWA, SETS EAA “EUORMO|IOR 360M
pIz iO HIP ols YOM 38] YIP OUR W YBNaLIH esnd ePID LopMOd ey JO TEM OF



(oun CJH51442@a0l.com To: dchabot @fs.fed.us
a 09/13/02 10:46 PM ce:

Subject: Thanks

Doug,

It only recently dawned on me that I had dropped the ball on letting you know
how much we in BSSAR appreciated Scott Schmidt's class and field
instructions. I apologize for being so tardy on sending our thanks, but
wanted you to know that Scott did a great job. In fact, there's widespread
local support for an encore presentation next January. Even though our
turnout was smaller than we hoped, because of the many positive comments of
those attending Scott's program, I'm sure we'll have a larger group next
time.

If you can plug us into the schedule book, we'd like to request a slide show
presentation at our regular Thursday night membership meeting on January 9,
and another Saturday classroom/field training session on January 11. Thanks
for all your efforts.

Jere Hanan
Big Sky

“Richard Hughson To: kbirkeland@fs.fed.us

Ross" ce:

<Richard-Ross@caue Subject: Re: Avalanche Awareness
lu>

02/12/02 01:33 PM

Thank you so much for all for assistance in helping backcountry fans
enjoy the great outdoors and the terrific Montana Cold Smoke. Sadly,
people forget that traveling and exploring the Montana backcountry
powder isn't a right, it is a privelege earned through education and
realizing that mother nature doesn't care one wit whether we live to
tell our powder tales or not. We travel in her boundaries at her
largess and to do so requires that we pay attention to her and respect
her by carrying the necessary gear and more importantly, learning how to
use that equipment and realizing that tomorrow may just be a better day
to play.

Though I do not live in Montana anymore but now reside in sunny,
southern California. What I learned from your classes and reports has
allowed me to enjoy the Mt. Baldy (OB @ Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts Inc., where
I am a certified ski instructor) backcountry--a 10,000 foot peak just an
hours skin away from chair 4 and 3000 vert. feet of Sierra/San Gabriel
cement later, of course, with a big grin. Keep up the good work and
thank you once again for your hard work and good deeds.

Sincerely,
Richard H. Ross, former Bridger Ridge ‘afficiando and Yellowstone Park
"Heavenly Glades" BC skier.



Avalanche advisory available

DILLON — With snow beginning to't uild
up in Southwest Montana mountains, its”
time to be aware of avalanche dangers ~
when traveling in the backcountry, the 4
Forest Service said.

“I's important for people to have the
proper equipment and to have their:
‘avalanche eyes’ open when traveling in
avalanche terrain,” Ron Roginske, recre-
ation specialist for the Beaverhead-
Deerlodge Natiorial Forest said.

For current avalanche advisories for much
of western Montana and to tearn more
about avalanches, Roginske recommends
the website, http://www.mtavalanche.com.

: Yellowstone atid th the

"_ www.mtavalanche.com

Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
Center opens for the season . .
The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center‘is
opening for the 2001-2002 season: The center pro-
vides-avalanche education ‘to the ‘public'and issties-:
advisories for the Bridger, Gallatin; Madison and
Washburn ranges, the Lionhead area near‘West =

i
daily advise
December. Recorded information for the Bozerhan,
Livingston; West Yellowstone and Cooke City areas is
available at 587-6981 and ori the Web at:

Bu

CHRON ICLe

Montana State University.program.

offers avalanche education seminar .
_A basic avalanche seminar will be offered Dec. 5

and 6 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the Strand Union *

Building at Montana State University. A field'session

will be conducted on Saturday, Dec. 8, from 10.a.m. to
4pm. . a vf
Course content includes hazard recognition, route
selection, fundamental snowpack analysis and basic, *
searchiatid rescue procedures. Cost is $5 per class-,
room session and $15 for the'field session. jw“
Participants may attend any or all sessions, however,
new information is presented at each class. .
"Advanced registration is required only for the field
session and may be completed at either classroom ses-
sion. For information, call 994-3621. .

Avalanche awareness class tailored

for snowmobilers set for Nov. 29, 30
‘The Gallatiri National Forest Avalanche Center

with Team Bozeman will offer an avalanche class for

snowmobilers. Two evening léctures of Thursday and

Friday are'scheduled as is an‘all-day field séssion'on

Sunday, Dec. 2. Topics covered include weather; tet=

. tain, avalanche formation, rescue, stability tests and

rider safety. . . . wn ee
Participants néed to register in advance by calling
‘Team Bozeman at 587-4671 and have access to a
snowmobile for the field session. A suggested dona- ~
tion of $30 will benefit the Friends of the Avalanche
Center.‘ eas

From Chronicle news sources

‘Bozeman

Nov 29 Zoot ,



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

SEASO WFALL HISTORY

Just like clockwork, our first reported avalanche incident occurred with the season's inaugural
snowfall. On October 13", a skier hungry for the first tracks of the winter, was caught in a small
slide in the Bridger Range. Thankfully he was uninjured, however, this event signaled the
kickoff to another avalanche season. As always we were hopeful that this was the start of a
legendary winter, but we ended up settling for mediocrity as November remained dry and warm.

December was a mixed bag with our southern areas getting over 4 inches of water while in the
north the snowpack remained anemic. Unfortunately, around Christmas we received an
unwelcome gift of surface hoar. This layer was promptly buried around West Yellowstone and
caused us heartburn for the next two months. January had many storms with one dump
measuring close to 30 inches in the Bridgers. A few days of warm temperatures in January
formed ice crusts on south facing slopes that laid the groundwork for lingering instabilities—
especially once a layer of facets capped this crust around Cooke City. This layer was
responsible for two fatalities as well as many other human triggered slides. February and March
were cold and snowy with some of our southern mountains getting over 10 inches of water in
March! As you can imagine, we had sizeable avalanche cycles following these storms with
people getting caught in slides. We sat on the edge of our seats in April anticipating large
dumps, but when these didn’t materialize we found ourselves quietly ending another season.

OCTOBER

Our first snowfall of the year dropped a few scrappy inches in the mountains allowing die-hard
skiers the chance to make a few turns. One skier triggered a small slide, but other than some
scrapes and bruises he escaped without consequence. In many spots thin snow cover and
warm temperatures created a hard, dense layer of snow near the ground. This type of base
was preferable to last year’s depth hoar.

NOVEMBER

The beginning of the month saw no precipitation, but things began to look better mid-month as
storms lined up and brought two to three inches of water to the mountains. Temperatures
stayed relatively warm, and the snowpack began to build slow and steadily.

DECEMBER

On December 1“ we put out our first advisory. The month saw many small storms in our north
with heavier snowfalls down south. In the middle of the month, we witnessed many signs of
instability and heard of folks triggering and getting caught in slides, but luckily not buried. A six
day clear spell over Christmas created large, well developed surface hoar crystals. Wind and
other factors gradually destroyed these, except in the mountains outside West Yellowstone.
Here they were buried and preserved, which started a two-month period of headaches and
worry.

JANUARY

Other than a few sporadic snow showers, the first half of the month was uneventful. This
changed on the 17" when the Bridgers got hit with a favorable northwest flow that dumped over
30 inches. Other areas caught up with 3 inches of water falling the last week of the month.
Consequently, the avalanche danger rose and we were seeing many natural and human
triggered slides. A snowmobiler in Cooke City triggered an avalanche on the ice crust/facet
combination that formed earlier in the month, and was completely buried. Using a transceiver,
his partner dug him out and saved his life, although he suffered a broken leg. A few days later

23



‘ounded in 1990 to “provide the pubic

‘with cumtent saowpack and mountain
‘weather information and avalanche educa
lon tho GNFAC isa tremendous resource for
any backcounty visor. Based in Bozeman,
Montana, the GNFAC covers an enormous

‘area, incluting the Bridger, Galatin, Madison
and Washbum Ranges, the Lionhead area
near West Yelowstone, and the mounialns
‘around Cooke City. The GNFAG is staffed by
Doug Chabot, Ron Johnson, and Scott
‘SdhnidL. Together they comple dolly advi-
series thal you can receive by emai, their
‘website, o just by calling them.

‘One of the chief functions is the Avatanche
Conlers variety of tailor-made avatonche
seminars and workshops that ara given in

your flully exjstals. This vapor moves
‘upward, to colder snowflakes in the snow-
pack, and reerystallizes, Neither the den-
sity nor the thickness of the snowpack
changes, but a weak, unstable, an
ble layer forms nonetheSess. Th

weak
botlom Iayer is called depth hoar. The

rate of recrytal
temperature gral
faster in shallow snow and cold weather.

NEAR-SURFACE FACETING.
Just under the lop of a snowpack, a simi-
Tat phenomenon can occur. Neor-surface
faceting deseribes the formation of a weak
layer near the surface of the snowpack
and wat fist theorized by Bozeman tes
dent and National Avalanche Cenler
‘entst Kar} Bitkeland, In near-sur-
ing, weak crystals si
depth hoar are produced when water
vapor forms and reenstallizes under a
high temperature gradient. But here, 2
quick temperature change must take
place deep within the snow. And, 2¢cord
ing to Bitkeland’s reports, a significant
layer of faceted (weak) snow forms within
a day and a half. These faceted crystals
have poor bonding properties, making the
layer prone to breaking away and sliding
with the accumulation of more snow:
‘Simply stated; a dramatic change in tem-
perature can be quite dangerous, espe-
cially if more snow follows in the next
week or two,

werw.outsidebozeman.com

path through the trees. This is 2 huge.
clue thal there may be an avalanche i
that spot again. It may Took great for sk
ing, but there is a veason that no trees
have grovn there, Ako, look for tres that
only have branches growing on the down.
hillside.

Stay off slopes between 30 and 45
degsees. On significantly steeper slopes, the
maw generally sloughs off before it can
build into an avalanche, On shallower
slopes, the snow has litle reason to move —
although avalanches often extend beyond
the slope onto later nanout zones

Identify recent avalanches in the area.
‘Seems obvious, but there is more to this
than just avoiding where the avalanche
‘oceutted. Look for clues, lke the charac
teristics of the hill. What direction is it
facing? How steep? Is it wind-loaded? Try
to avoid slopes that match those charae-

ticular atea is unstable.
Listen fora "whoomping” sound from
the snow. This indicates 2 smal of Iorge

the early winter, Many long-time backcountry
skiers consider the workshops a mandalory
annual event befor the season begins.
‘There ata two avalanche workshops: Basic
‘and Advanced.

‘There are hwo Basic avalanche courses tis
‘year, Tha couse includes lectures on MO
‘ovenings and @ Saturday in the Fld, Course
‘content includes: hazard recognition, route
selection, fundamental snowpack analysis, and
basic search and rescue procedures. Cost
'$500 for each evering session and $15.00 for
the field session or the whole thing fr $25.0.

‘st Session: Decomber 5th and 6lh, 2001,
7:00-8:309m, at MSU in the SUB, Ballroom
1B. December 8th, 2001, al day field session
‘al Bridger Bowl, 2nd Session: January 30th

FORMATION OF SURFACE HOAR

A thitd ype of weakness occurs al the
snow surface. When you waddle out to the
car on a winter morning and end wp hav.
ing to serape a fosty windshield, you expe-
rience hows waler vapor in the atmosphere
Fikes to erptallize on the

‘an 316%, 2002, 7:00-9:20pm, at MSU In the
‘SUB, Ballroom B. February 2nd, olay field
session at Bridger Bowl

“There ls just one Advanood class and it con-
‘35 of two evening seesions and one Saturday
eld session, Course content inciudes: a brit
roview of basic lopies, snaw me
avalanche slab fraciure mechanics, and
avalanche rescue. The field session inchudes
snowpack analysis, route finding, and
advenoad avalanche rescue techniques. Cast
{s $45.00 (choaper for MSU studenis).

February Gin and 7th, 2002, 7:00-8-20pm, a
MSU in the Strand Union Bulking, Balioom 8.
February Sth, 2002, af day field session at
Bridger Bow, Call 994-9621 for more infor-
‘mation on ether course.

for educating and hetping to protect them
selves from becoming. vielims of an
avalanche, The fist step is leatning to ree-
‘ognize the signs ofan avalanche,

Look for avalanche tracks. Lock around
tosee where previous avalanches have cut

coldest thing around.
Similarly, a layer of snow
gels cold alter spending
all night losing infrared
radiation to the shy. By
moming, a layer of large
ice enptals may be
deposited on the snow,
Torming sutiace hoar that
foture snowfalls
bond steongly to. With

can't

ough new newest | as unique os
vation can resemble that J,
faconcrteb perched | Somes!
alop a layer of ball-bear-
ings

‘So, you've got 2 weak
layer and then an aceu- | MONTANA CONNECT
mulation of snow, what | web design & beyond.
elie do you need to make
‘an avalanche? Well, you} vwwmtconneck.com
reed a tigger, something} info@mconnec.com

to set it off—and hopeful-
Iy thats not you.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Backcountry tavelershave
(ons of resources available

feiluce. You will hear this often if you
ttavel in the backcountry much. ‘Take
notice it’s a sign ofan unstable snowpack.

Practice. Have a friend bury 9 back-
pack with your transceiver in it and then
try tofind it as fast as possible. Switch and
Tet her ty: It is best to do this again at the
beginning of every tip. Also, go over safe
ty procedures for skiing down the slope —
eg, one ata time.

“Take advantage of local cesources.
‘The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
Center is probably the single greatest
resource for anyone who travels in the
outdoors in the wimler around here.
Backcountry travelers ean eal oF lg in to
the Avalanche Center to seport conditions
they experienced, and staffer there spend
2 good portion of the week in the back-
testing, conditions themselves.
“The CNFAC’ annual classes offer a chance

MONTANA CONNECT
No two websites alike!

Custom websites

406.556.1800

winter 2001-2002 43

to get cheap ($25), professional, hands
on instruction and should absolutely be

‘an annual requirement by anyone wsing
the backcounly.

“There isa balance somewhere between
risk and safety, between courage and foo!-
ishness, and | think most of us cross back
and forh over it. To some, jst successful
ly negotiating traffi on the way to work is.
reason enough to plant 2 well-deserved
coffee cup on the desk like a flag bearing
witness to your travails, For other, hang:
ing on a thin sibbon of ice by nylon leash
far above frozen ground is completely
within the reakm of comfort, So, we each
oust Team the signs of danger, stay set to
conditions, and then make decisions
according to our oxn comfort and risk
level a5 well as thal of our partners. o»

Kent Orms was once cought in a small but
cary avalanche, and since then he's ignif-
icantly improved his avalanche softy skill,
Kent has been Oulside Bozeman's con-
Uributing editor forthe last two years



na MarketPlace
* Movies/Films:

° Web Cams

* Search the Web

* Horoscope Pages

° Send E-Greetings

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Gn WE QURS UGE HUHNE GH ue ne Hey an
advisory every morning.”

The point of the effort, Chabot said, is to provide
the public with enough information to stay out of
trouble,

Avalanche hazards throughout Montana’‘s west-
central region, including the Bitterroot and Lolo
National Forests, and the Rattlesnake Mountains
north of Missoula, are “considerable” an all wind-
loaded slopes greater than 35 degrees. Natural
avalanches are possible, the warning states, and
human-triggered avalanches are probable.
Avalanche dangers posted by the Glacier Country
Avalanche Center in Kalispell were “moderate”
on Thursday, especially on steep, open slopes,
which received deposits of wind-transported
snow.

West of the Continental Divide, natura!
avalanches are unlikely. But human triggered
slides, the report said, were possible.

Chabot cautioned that conditions change daily
and those looking to enter avalanche prone areas
should check snow conditions before proceeding.
Chabot said that signs of recent slides are the
leading indicator of unstable snow conditions,
seconded by snow layers that collapse or crack
under the weight of hikers, skiers or
snowmobilers.

If the obvious indicators aren’t visible, Chabot
said, the person would be wise to examine snow
conditions before proceeding into dangerous
territory.

“To really find out, you'll have to dig around in
the snow a little bit,” Chabot said. “You’re
looking for layers that are weaker, those
underneath dense or stronger layers.”

Avalanche terrain is defined by slopes steeper
than 30 degrees. As an example, Chabot said, a
black diamond ski run generally slopes at
roughly 35 degrees. The steeper the slope, the
more stress the snow pack is under.

Snow, wind, and nature itself can trigger a slide,
while the added presence of humans can create
enough stress to cause an avalanche.

“If you’re going to play in avalanche terrain you
shouldget educated — take a class, read a book,
watch videos,” Chabot said. “Once you're out
there, everyone in the group should have an
avalanche transceiver and a shovel. If you make
a mistake and get caught, it will at least allow
someone to come and help.”

Chabot suggested putting one person at a time
on a given slope and take turns crossing slide
prone areas.

For daily avalanche conditions worldwide,
including Montana, log on to the Avalanche

Cantar'e Wah nana ar call ana af the nitmbhare

n/rednews/2002/01/04/build/montana/1C4.html



HOME PAGE OF THE GNFAC



2/sefea

Dea 3 Ke Nv,

Thanks once again
fon all of oer time ancl
enthustasm. You and Seth
were & big Arf! We have
a note tor Seth as well —

ft ov have an adelress

3

for chim, could you email +,



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& Philadelphia knocks off Tampa Bay, Oakland
‘ousts Jets in firstround.of NFL playoffs/1B ,

Capital takes 70-49 victory over Big Sky
to.imiprove to 31 in Western AA /-1B

More powerful machines TM
can mean more danger

‘By MARTIN J. KIOSTON
IR Staff Writer

Snowmobiles have gotten more:
powerful and tiders have gotten bet-
‘er, punching their way deeper into
‘avalanche country — and sometimes
dying.

‘Those aré the con-
terns of the U:S. For~,
est Service Avalanche
‘Center and two
avalanche Instructors
based in the Gallatin
National Forest neat
Bozeman.
<: Working for one of
three avalanche cen-
tera in Montana,
avalanche experts
Doug Chabot and Ron Johnson enter
the backcountry three times a week,
‘There, they evaluate snowpack and
iseue warnings for the Southwest
Montana Avalariche Center...

But warnings alone aren't saving
lives, prompting Chabot and Johnaon,
‘among others, to embark on a mis-
sion to educate snowmobilers who, as
a recreational group; are dying in

Chatot

avalanches in the U.S. — and Mon-
tana rate many times greater
than any other group.

Since 1950, climbers havo iéd the

“nation in avalanche fatalities, with

skiers second and snowmobilers a.

distant third. But since 1968, when

the first avalanche-related death of a

‘snowmobiler occurred, the number

of riders killed by avalanches has

risen sharply.
Betwoen 1993 and

2001 more than 72 rid-
ers died nationwide,

} compared to just 25:
climbers and 31
skiers, according to
the Avalanche Center.
Yo Montana; since
1995, snowmobilers
have triggered 29 -

- "avalanches. Twenty-

two have died.

‘The reason for the swing in fatali-

Johnson

- thes is a three-fold story. It's one ps

taining to stronger sleds, more riders
and a lack of knowledge regarding ;
snowpack and terrain.

In the past seven years, Chabot
sald, the increased horaépower of
‘snowmobiles has allowed riders to.
acceas steeper, deoper terrain, giving
rise to a group of brash young dare-
devils willing to jump wind-loaded

‘More DANGER, page 94



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

Table 2: AVALANCHE INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS

IDATE LOCATION DETAILS
13-Oct Bridger Range 1 skier triggered, caught
2-Dec Madison Range 1 skier triggered, caught
9-Dec Madison Range 2 snowmobiler triggered
14-Dec Madison Range 2 skier triggered
15-Dec Madison Range 4 skier triggered
15-Dec Gallatin Range 1 snowmobile triggered
15-Dec Madison Range 1 skier triggered
16-Dec Madison Range 1 skier triggered, caught
j16-Dec Lionhead area 1 skier triggered, caught
28-Dec Gallatin Range 1 skier triggered
30-Dec Bridger Range 1 skier triggered, caught
"Jan Bridger Range 1 skier triggered, caught
5-Jan Bridger Range 1 skier triggered
|6-Jan Madison Range 1 snowmobiler triggered
(6-Jan Madison Range 1 snowmobiler triggered
20-Jan Bridger Range 1 skier triggered
26-Jan Gallatin Range 1 snowmobiler triggered
27-Jan Madison Range 1 skier triggered
27-Jan Cooke City 3 snowmobilers triggered, 3 caught, 1 buried, injured
j3i-Jan Lionhead area 14 snowmobiler triggered, caught, buried, uninjured
16-Feb Centennial Range 1 snowmobiler triggered, caught, buried, uninjured
116-Feb Cooke City 5 snowmobiler triggered, 3 caught, 2 buried and killed
{9-Mar Gallatin Range 1 skier triggered
10-Mar Cooke City 1 snowmobiler triggered, caught, partially buried
110-Mar Cooke City 1 skier triggered
110-Mar Cooke City 1 skier triggered
110-Mar Madison Range 1 snowmobiler triggered
10-Mar Bridger Range 1 skier triggered
17-Mar Madison Range 1 skier triggered, caught
21-Mar Gallatin Range 1 snowmobiler triggered
21-Mar Lionhead area 1 snowmobiler triggered
l22-Mar Lionhead area 1 snowmobiler triggered, caught, partially buried
24-Mar Lionhead area 1 snowmobiler triggered, caught, buried and killed
24-Mar Cooke City 1 snowmobiler triggered
30-Mar Cooke City 1 snowmobiler triggered
I30-Mar_Cooke City 1 snowmobiler triggered

TOTAL= 41 Incidents resulting in 9 burials, 1 injury and 3 deaths

10



s you hike slowly up through

A the deep snow, the cold air sting-
ing your face, you hear a
CRRRAAACK so loud and deep it echoes
down the canyon and shakes the new snow
off the trees. You turn to move, but, before
you can, you’re tumbling. Down and down
the slope in a tidal wave of ice and snow
chunks. You're thrown about like a shoe in
the dryer. If you don’t smash into rocks and
trees you may be crushed by the ice
chunks falling with you. When you stop, if
you're still alive, you'll likely suffocate with
the tons of concrete-like snow compacted
all around you. But if your friends are pre-
pared and trained, you could be found and
dug out in less than two minutes. And
knowing what forces and circumstances

che danger.

combine to create these deadly winter
occurrences can help you make decisions
to avoid danger areas altogether.

Countless factors go into making an
avalanche, but the most deadly—slab
avalanches—have two basic characteristics:
an accumulation of snow and a weak layer
somewhere in that snow.

ANATOMY OF A SNOWPACK

It begins with the gathering of clouds.
High cirrus clouds, say. Innocent looking
enough, these high-altitude, wispy clouds
often run with the jet stream and bring in
the bitter cold and snow. In these clouds,
sometimes as high as 50,000 feet, ice parti-
cles make up most of the matter. They
begin to attach themselves to each other,
dust, and water vapor, gaining size and

42 Outside Bozeman

weight until, finally, they give way to
gravity. If conditions are right and temper-
atutes are around 10 F, they make it to the
ground as big, fat, beautiful snowflakes—
the kind that make every Bozemanite start
cooking up work excuses and looking for
the shovel and transceiver. But also the
kind that can build up to make a snowpack
into a ticking time-bomb for an unsuspect-
ing skier. The kind that could add weight
to a weak lower layer and when set off,
shear into huge chunks of hardened snow
and ice—a slab avalanche.

Dependent on more factors than could
be discussed in one article, the dynamics of
a snowpack take shape early in the season
with the first snowfall. From there, amount
of wind-loaded snow, temperature, slope of
the hill, aspect (which direction the hillside
faces), leeward or windward orientation,

humidity, and how the lower layers were
formed, all contribute to the character of a
snowpack, But what makes a snowpack
into a deadly slab avalanche? First, it
begins with the creation of a weak layer,
something that gives way to the weight of
the layers above. How this weak layer
forms can be quite complex, but there are
three general ways.

FORMATION OF DEPTH HOAR

When the flakes are falling, they are usu-
ally fine-grained, but as the flakes land,
they almost immediately undergo trans-
formation. Imagine you're a snowflake
near the ground, say up in the Gallatin
Range. The ground, retaining heat,
warms you up and just like being in a
fluffy down jacket, you start to pump
water vapor into the air spaces between

PHOTOS BY DOUG CHABOT



8 December 27, 2001 —- WEST YELLOWSTONE NEWS

buildup can cause an avalanche.

‘The stability tests are not an

uneasy task and can take only a
» few minutes. After the first hill-

tions becom prevatent st 80
degrees andi
ole this two-d rat Erie au
0 se of this two-day s
rset ¥ Prat Slay 0 fae wide, 3
Sethe fist day wai-a Gve-hour anid just one foot deep weighs 36
indoor instruction course on safe- ons: Small slides travel at 40
tiand:awareness, Partic iiles per hoi, while larger ones
mit in the Barrel Bar at ‘can move at'a speed of up to 120
"Coach, while the Avalanche miles per hour.
Centex teain advised them of. the obvious dangers of
Shee Jook for and how to wind loaded slopes, steep terrain,
id. The second day was ~ and ariders hearing and sight
on” training: an all-day. “—~ wearing a helmet is
figld course: nat it can impair one
“Chabot covered a few tests"; ‘- from hearing the “whoompfing”
tthat’can be'done to'find breaks in’ of hollow.eounds that may be
thet labs of he . ‘clues of instability, as well as

snowmobile safety

cause “tunnel vision” in which you

are unaware of clues and dangers
there are things

lers must use and

ve person
Jonits “transmit” setting and walk
ut among the deep now,
the pocket-sized lifesavers uni ler”
‘the snow’s surface.
‘The teammate would then
., turn their beacon to its signal set-
shes and set out blindly in search
of th hidden treasure:
beacons are equipped
with ba ‘body etraps and itis impor-
tant that you wear the device
‘around your body — underneath
your jacket — and have it trans-

and Doug Chabot examine
the texture of different ‘ayers
of snow; Watt holds 2 ‘Aigital”
avalanche beacon while:

steep terraln; Watt looks into
a magnifying glass to exam.
ine the difference hetween
top layer snow! and bottom :

A shovel, probes anda beacon are riecessary ‘tools for backcountry s

‘mitting a signal as ‘soon as
your travels begi
‘Watt eays he now make
guides use only digital tran
Seivers, which are a costly ¢
The§ 8. OS. rAype tranzesivet
the eost — one g
member bought his at a pas
for $100 — bat there are ob
differences between the tw:
8081 ‘isan analog transceh
the user must rely
icult transmission
than the digital model. Witt
digital transceivers, the use
provided with three signals
a distance meter and a dire:
meter, As you get closer to.
target, the Sound signal cha

nt the
Gigital readout tells you how
you are in feet to your
‘The analog system doe:
Provide distance; rather, it



\TI TIONAI T AVA! INTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-¢

Table 4: US AVALANCHE FATALITIES BY ACTIVITY

.| 16-
86-\87-|88-|89-/90-(9 1 -92-193-94-|95-96-97-98-/99-/00-/01|winter
ACTIVITY |87|88/89/90|91/92/93/94/95|96/97|98/99/00/01 02|totals
climbers 6l2lolol|3|7/3\2is6lo9le|3}iiljo|2io| 50
BCskiers* |2|6|2|2]2/7}9/2/7/6|0]/0/3|8/5|6| 67
in-area
skiers/riders |O|O}O;/oO;/o;/oO!lo|o;o;/o/olo;1t|o|ol|lo| 1
OBskiers* | 8/0/2/3/0/4;);5/0/0;/1/0/1)2/5/5

a
he

BC snowboaders| 0 |O|o0|i1}o/o]2/0/1/3/1/4/4]0/2/o0| 18

OB snowboaders} O| O|o|olojo|i}ol/2}1{ojo/3i|i}o/4) 12

snowmobilers |2|0|0/1|2/2/2|9/7]|5/ 61|14|13| 5 |15|18] 1017

misc. recreation| 3] 0} o|1]1/2{4]o11/2/7/4/4/1] 4/3] 37

patrollers OLO|T1O;OJO 1 O}1I{11/0}010)}0}/0/0

4

Imotorists/highway|

workers olololololijitjolrjolojojoli1lolo}| 4
5
6

lo
io
io
°
°
°
nD
=
°
fo}
Io
io

residents
others @ work |0|O0/0/O0/O0/1{/7/0|/0/1/2|0/1/0/0|0

TOTAL 21| 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 |24/29/13}28/30 | 22/26 |32/22)33)32| 352
*BC= backcountry OB= out-of-bounds

This table was compiled by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

12



The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center (GNFAC) is a unique partnership of the Forest
Service, Fish Wildlife and Parks, other federal and state agencies and businesses in the
national and local outdoor community. All of these entities make it possible for the GNFAC to
pursue its goal of putting out daily avalanche advisories in addition to teaching high quality
education programs targeting all outdoor recreationists.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Every year the community support to the Avalanche Center increases. This support comes in
the way of money, product and time from many companies and individuals. These partnerships
allow us to increase public awareness and education about avalanches every year. We again
thank those businesses and agencies that have provided significant contributions (in excess of
$1000) this past season:

Friends of the Avalanche Center
Hans Saari Memorial Fund
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Recreation Trails Grant
Northern Region Partnership Fund
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Snowmobile Safety Program
Gallatin County Search and Rescue
Drew and Jennifer Seesse!
Surfrider Foundation
Region 1
Polaris Industries
Team Bozeman
Merica Design
Northern Lights Trading Company
Natural Resources Conservation Service
National Avalanche Center

The Friends of the Avalanche Center deserves a hearty round of THANKS! These dedicated
individuals help us in countless ways. Most notably they fundraise and write grants to financially
support the GNFAC and also provide community outreach. The board includes Molly Merica
(President), Chas Day, Greg Caracciolo, Joel Lee, Dale Sexton, Annie Fast, Jeannie Wall, Drew
Seessel, Ron Lininger, Jason Schutz, Lance Riek, Jim Marshall, Marty Faulkner, and Cliff
Gullett.

The Avalanche Center exists due to the long-term support and encouragement of the Gallatin
National Forest. The GNF provides a home for the Avalanche Center and has taken
leadership in our region for providing a top-notch program of avalanche education and
awareness. Kimberly Schlenker, program manager for Recreation and Wilderness, continues to
oversee the center, and her invaluable encouragement, assistance and guidance cannot be
overemphasized. Her advocacy helped get the center off the ground and has helped it mature
and grow throughout the years.



GroundhogX@aol.co To: dchabot @fs.fed.us
m cc:

1/14 : ce:
01/14/02 12:12 PM Subject: avalanche relocation letter

Dear Henry,

It has come to my attention that the Gallatin National Forest is trying to
create new space in the Federal building downtown that may result in the
Avalanche Center being relocated. As President of the Friends of the
Avalanche Center I am writing you to express my concern about this
relocation issue.

The Friends are a group of 12 volunteers who work diligently at fundraising
to increase avalanche awareness and education in southwest Montana. The
Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center (GNFAC) is the primary recipient of
our

fundraising efforts. In the past 7 years we have donated over $37,000 in
funding and equipment supporting the GNFAC. We believe their education
efforts and daily advisories are paramount in preventing avalanche

accidents and fatalities in southwest Montana.

Speaking on behalf the entire Friends board we oppose moving the avalanche
center for 2 reasons:

1. Delivering daily advisories every morning via phone, fax, web site and
e-mail

(over 1,200 accesses daily) is very crucial to the winter recreationalists of
SW Montana. Since much of advisory distribution requires computer
technology, relocating the GNFAC outside the Federal building may hinder the
disbursement process due to the lack of immediately available computer
support. There have been several occasions when the advisory would not have
occurred on time or at all without the in-house support of the computer
department. It is unacceptable to the Friends to jeopardize this public
service and as the GNFAC's largest supporters we want to guarantee that this
service continues without pause.

2. The GNFAC staff, Doug Chabot, Ron Johnson and Scott Schmidt need to be
conveniently accessible to us. The Friends, as well as partners in the
community find it valuable to have the GNFAC located in downtown Bozeman.

The Federal building provides easy access for the Friends/Partners to stop in
to discuss budget issues, fundraising goals, and project updates and also
allows us to continue our close relationship with the Avalanche Center.
Moving the GNFAC to a distant location will make it difficult for us to
communicate with Doug, Ron and Scott and may hinder our effectiveness as
their primary supporters outside the Forest Service.

Thank you for your consideration of our situation.
Best Regards,

Molly A. Merica,
President of the Friends of the Avalanche Center



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GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

INCOME

Friends
5%

SAR
3%

FWP Snomo
2%

GNF

46% RI

17%

Partnership
14%

EXPENSES

GNF Operating
27%

Administrative
2%

Snowmobiles 5
3% Salaries
64%
Equip
1% Travel

3%

21



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST
AVALANCHE CENTER

ANNUAL REPORT

2001-2002

by
Doug Chabot

Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
P.O. Box 130
Bozeman, MT 59771
(406) 587-6984
web page: http:/Awww.mtavalanche.com
e-mail: gnfac@avalanche.org

Cover illustration by Ralph Wiegmann.



loot WWwns -~ SYN SiAVIGd

lhe snowy winter of 2000-2001
T: ‘a challenging one for the staff

of the Gallatin National Forest
Avalanche Center and other avalanche
professionals. According to Doug
Chabot, director of the Avalanche
Center based in Bozeman, Montana,
there were 30 avalanche fatalities in
the United States over the winter, and

14 of those victims were snowmobilers. *

In Montana alone, there were seven
fatalities, including four snowmobilers.
Yet the toll might have been worse
if not for the work of the Avalanche
Center team, which monitors snow con-
ditions and issues avalanche warnings
throughout the winter. The staff also
teaches avalanche dwareness classes
yearround, and is constantly studying
avalanches to learn more about these
potentially deadly snow slides.

Chabot said the Avalanche Center
team wants fo reach more snowmobilers
with its avalanche awareness messages.

“For the future, we would like to

extend our snowmobiler education out

reach,” he said. “Snowmobilers lead the
nation in avalanche fatalities with 71
deaths in the last eight years, and we
would like to curb these rising numbers.”

He said the Avalanche Center's
work is aided greatly by contributions
from Polaris, which last year donated
two Indy 700 RMKs to the team and
sponsored avalanche advisory reports
issued on the internet and via e-mail
and telephone. The staff logged more
than 1,200 on each sled, most of it in
remote mountain backcouniry.

“These sleds allowed easier access
into the backcountry for our snow sta-
ility evaluations and also made it easi-
er fo investigate snowmobilertriggered
avalanche incidents,” Chabot said.
“We investigated three snowmobile-tri
gered slides that previously would've
been impossible for us to get to because
of their offtrail, remote locations.”

To get more information about ava-
lanche safety and awareness, check
out the center’s Web site:
www.mtavalanche.com.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

Just a quick note to thank you again for coming to McLeod last evening. Your avalanche
presentation was the best I've seen yet! Good Job!! Even though our little guy tuckered out, he
was talking about it this morning while looking at the new snow on the Crazy's. It's amazing
how much the kids pick up.

Take care and thanks,

Kevin, Connie & Kalvin Kunda

Hi guys! .

First of all, | want to thank you for continuing such great work. Your reports are consistently the
best tool | have found to help in my evaluation of the conditions | ski on.

Secondly, the Pinhead Classic is coming up next weekend, held again at Bridger Bowl. I've
attached our public service announcements to this email. | would greatly appreciate any plugs
you can give us.

Thanks again for everything you do.

Warren Bauder

Montana Telemark Corporation

WAS FUELING UP AT 4 CORNERS SOUTH OF BOZEMAN SAT. MARCH 16 APPROX. 5 PM
AND SAW LIGHT GREEN US FOREST SERVICE PICK UP WITH 2 RMK'S ON TRAILER
HEADING NORTH TOWARDS BOZEMAN. WONDERED IF THAT WAS MY FAVORITE
AVALANCHE DUDES. THANKS FOR THE SUPER SERVICE YOU PROVIDE. | REALLY
APPRECIATE YOUR BULLETIN.

MARK LINDY

See you next snowmobiling season!! Powder Up!!
Kathy

| signed on to receive your advisories back in January prior to our trip to
the Yellowstone area. | found your information interesting and helpful,
especially weather-wise, in planning our trip. | continued to receive your
reports due to my interest in the information you presented. ! look forward
to getting back out to your area next year, as our trip was a great
experience! Keep up the good work in your reporting next season! Thank
you!

Ray Oines

Brookings, SD

Thanx for all the good info this season! We look forward to next year hoping the EL Nino is not
a major factor!!

| am a patrolman at Big Sky. During the season | only get out in the backcountry one or two
days a week. But by working on the mountain | know what's going with the snow. Tomorrow
the season ends. Now everytime i ski will be in the backcountry. | plan on skiing into August. !
realize due to financial concerns you have to stop with your adviseries. But | will miss them,
especialy, now that | need them more than ever. It was a good season, | will miss you guys,
looking forward to reading you again next year.

Bart

Hey fellas. Although | don't get into the backcountry very often, I'm a

regular advisory reader. I'd just like to say, JOB WELL DONE!! You guys
have really tought me how to follow the snowpack throughout the season.

29



=<

MONTANA

BIG SKY-OF MONTANA
Skt'and Summer Resort

* RO. Box 160001
Big ‘Sky, Montana
59716”

(406) 995-5000
Fax (406) 995-5001

. | National Reservations
1800) 548-4486 ~

Grouip/Conyention Sales °
(800)'548-4487
Fax (406). 995-5003

BOYNE USA RESORTS
"Big Sky MT-
Boyne-Mountain, MI
Boyne.Highlands, MI
Bay Harbor, MI
Brighton, UT
Crystal Mountain, WA
+ Boyne South, FL.
Gatlinburg, TN

BIG SKY

Becki Heath .
Gallatin National Forest Supervisor

I am writing to express our gratitude for the presentation given by Ron
Johnson on 11/17/01. Ron spoke on the topic of avalanche fracture ~
mechanics to the Big Sky ski patrol during our annual training refresher. His ”
presentation was very informative and it was a welcome change for the

patrol to havé'an outside expert give his interpretation of such a complex
subject. I feel fortunate to have access to such a valuable resource as the
Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center and appreciate the time taken to
help educate our staff. .

. ad!
ye

Randy: Spence .
Big Sky Snow Safety Director



FRIDAY,:-MARCH 41,2002

one of those: freak things that made the.
national news. :

That’s changing, :

The deaths of two snowiniobilers near
Cooke Gity in February pushed the state
total for avalanche deaths this winter toa
record igh eight. ° >

Here’s a prediction
stand for long. The s
winter; and the numbei Fe C
heading into the backcountry is goirig
higher with each Passing year. Ten Years
from | now; |

[: t.used to be.that an avalanche death was

avalanche deaths in

a winter:will be: sf Phe cor cence

routinely in the a

double digits continued .
Avalanchedan- | escalation in

ger has spawned i its | - avalanche

owmn'science, with a :

the US.'Forest’” "|" deaths:is one

Service providing °|  snowimobil-.-

personnel for

research; avalanche. | ‘ing image.

and wae 1 problem that

cOutses in rec-

ognizingand | | | can be befixed

avoiding avalanche : :

darigér:!:+4:

But this ear’s avalanche deaths have
prodiicédandther startling statistic: All the
Montana fatalities were snowmobilers. Of
18 deaths recorded nationally this year, 13
were snowmobilers..."

This should alert even the imost ‘casual

be paying attention...

nen CABAL bteTa tes” oF

‘The Gallatin National! Forest Avalanche
Center tries to disseminate safety informa.
tion to snowmobilers, and yet recreation-
ists continue to engage in lethal practices.
Snowmobilers like to“ “high: imark,” power’
the'snowmobile up increasingly steep’
slopes to sée who can reach
point before spinning
found that; in sevé
deaths, mote than’

Snowmobile clubs, rental services and
other businesses'whio: Cater to: visiting
snowmobilers in high-use areas could help
by spreading the; \d emphasizing
the importance of getting properly
equipped and inforined before heading.
out. They ¢ gould likewise ‘direct snowmobil-

avalan .com/ for infor *
t onditio arid say

Yellowstoni k
The continued escalati



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002

near West Yellowstone, a rider had a close call when he was buried in a slide. Luckily, he and
his partner were both wearing transceivers and were highmarking one at a time. His partner
saw the slide occur from a safe distance and was able to quickly dig him out. Although he was
four feet under the surface, he was uninjured.

FEBRUARY

We all hoped that the snowstorms the latter half of January would continue into February, but
this wasn’t the case. Cold temperatures, windy skies and smaller snowfalls characterized this
month. There were many three to five inch snowstorms, enough to keep the backcountry fresh
and interesting, but nothing to get too excited about. A few of these storms outside Cooke City
kept the avalanche danger higher than elsewhere because of the instabilities associated with
the ice crust/facet layer. This layer was sensitive enough to be triggered on the 16" by five
snowmobilers highmarking. Three were caught, but two were completely buried and tragically
killed. Without rescue gear their chances of survival decreased quickly.

MARCH

March was cold and snowy, especially in our southern mountains. Most areas got three to five

inches of water, but Cooke City easily doubled that amount with 10 inches of water falling. We

saw lots of human triggered slides this month and experienced another fatality. A snowmobiler
was buried outside West Yellowstone. He was wearing a beacon, but was fatally buried 20 feet
deep.

APRIL

April began with cold, single digit temperatures and no new snow. A rapid warming event
happened the second week and we saw our first real wet slide activity. Smaller two to four inch
snowstorms created natural avalanches contined to the new snow, but without big storms the
backcountry was quieting down. We closed up shop with our 135" advisory on April 14” and
took a deep sigh of relief when the season ended on a boring note.

24



Avalanche/from page 9

The U.S. already has 19
avalanche fatalities this season, 14

of them snowmobilers.

Here in Montana we have the dubious
distinction of leading the nation in fatalities with'a
grand total of eight. All of them are snowmobilers.
When we do a little research and investigate the
causes, we find surprising similarities. How can we
possibly stem this rising tide of fatalities? On the
face of it, it seems hopeless. I’ve heard people say
that it’s just part of the risk of snowmobiling, that
it’s inevitable. Luckily, this isn’t true. With a little
education and behavior modification we can easily
stop this trend, and hopefully reverse it.

Seven out of Montana’s eight fatalities
occurred with more than one person on a slope.
When weak layers exist within the snowpack, the
weight of a machine and rider can sometimes add
enough stregs to avalanche the slope, and if we.add
multiple riders, the. chance of triggering a slide
increases. There’s little chance of survival if
everyone is caught and buried. By only ri ing one

SNOW ADVISORY

Education gives hope for reversing trend in avalanche fatalities

at a time on a slope you'll only expose one person
to the risk of getting caught, which leaves others to
do a rescue if needed. Historically, many
snowmobilers have been caught and killed riding
onto a slope to help their stuck friend.
Unfortunately, the rider going to help is usually the
one who triggers the slide. Sometimes he can ride
out of it if luck is‘on‘his side, however, the stuck
snowmobiler doesn’t stand @ chance. If riders just
did this one thing, and only exposed one person at
a time to a slope, we'd see avalanche fatalities
among snowmobilers plummet. This would easily
halve the eight fatalities here at home.

Another common thread is that riders don’t
recognize obvious signs of instability.. Mother
Nature's brightest, and most obvious sign that
slopes are unstable are-recent avalanches. This
sounds almost too easy,’ but it's overlooked time
and time again. Slopes that have a similar aspect.
and similar elevation have similar-snowpacks. If
you're out riding and see recent. avalanche activity,

_Mother Nature-is warning you- Stay off of similar
. slopes, We've investigated, many avalanches where: .

Doug Chabot

riders high marked or played immediately adjacent
to a recent slide. This is like playing Russian
roulette. Remember, one of the questions we try
and answer when we're out riding is, “Could the
snow slide?” There are no clearer signs of instability
than recent avalanches. Look around and pay
attention. There's no excuse for missing this freebie.
And last, but certainly not least, is a lack of
rescue gear. For comparison, all NASCAR drivers
wear seatbelts, kayakers wear life vests, and
climbers wear helmets. If you're going to play in

. avalanche terrain then you should carry an

avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. Let's face
it; we make mistakes. Snowmobiling in avalanche
terrain carries a certain level of risk. We try and
mitigate this risk by making educated decisions, but
we can’t be 100 percent accurate all the time. By
carrying rescue gear we can increase our odds of
living when situations spin out of control. We can
learn from near misses, but we shouldn't count on

- them, or luck, to keep us alive. If everyone carries

(More Avalanche on page 10)

‘anid knows Ow, 1G'tise rescue, S gear, then at
Jeast-youve got:a-chance of surviving a
burial. Without it, your, chahces.are almost »
zero, Remember, rescue gear doesn’t take

made a bad choice. People still die

wearing beacons. Theres no guarantee,
but it certainly gives you a better shot to
see anotlier day. If you doubt the. validity’ -
the place of knowledge, it just silently gets of this, let me remind you that alréady this =
cartied. everywhere in the event that we season there have been, thrée live « :

SL anc 2002 BIG. SKY PUBLISHING -

recoveries of snowmobilers completely
buried in avalanches. Their partners saved
their lives because they were all wearing
transceivers and had shovels. .

“. “ Snowmobil iling.is fun, but we can,

‘make it safer, Stack the deck in your favor;

pay attention to recent avalanche activity,
ride the slope one at a time, and have.
everyone in your party carry an avalanche
transceiver, shovel and probe.
Doug Chabot is'the-director of the
~ . Gallatin. National Forest Avalanche Center.



GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER. INUAL REPORT. =

7-Feb Chabot Gallatin Leadership Team Ava. Center History 20]
9-Feb Johnson/Schmidt MSU Advanced Avalanche 32)
11-FebJohnson Wilderness Medical Society Ava. Awareness 25)
11-Feb Chabot Gallatin Co. SAR Rescue 15
12-Feb Schmidt Morning Star 2nd Grade Ava. Awareness 73)
15-Feb Schmidt Whittier Schoo! 3rd Grade Ava, Dogs 40)
19-FebJohnson Big Sky Youth Empowerment Ava. Awareness 8
19-Feb Johnson West Yell. Ranger District Ava. Accidents 12)
22-Feb Chabot Int'l Snowmobile Assoc. Ava. Awareness 30
2/22-2/24 Schmidt Alaska Mountain Training Center Basic Avalanche 30
5-MarJohnson Lewis and Clark NF Basic Avalanche 25]
20-Mar Johnson Irving Schoo! 2nd Grade Ava. Awareness 20
20-Mar Chabot Region 1 Workshop Ava. Awareness 30}
20-Mar Chabot Region 1 Workshop Rescue 10
25-Mar Chabot Dept of Defense-Special Forces Backcountry Travel! 8
26-Mar Chabot Dept of Defense-Special Forces Backcountry Travel §
TOTAL= 62 Talks/Seminars/Field Sessions to 2703 People



OORE ON BOARD

Get out there — The backcountry is a place to make memories

Often I wish. | wish that more often 1 could get
‘out into the backcountry to enjoy God's great
creation. Getting out to experience the silence and the
beauty and the majesty of the surrounding ranges is
great. Ripping down a big chute or cruising an open
face is the very pulse of snowboarding. Iti

.: Surfing a giant white wave. The crisp floating icy air
and the feeling of beirig so small in a vast sea of white

must be experiericed to believe. Many times have
had the opportunity to go cat boarding and even heli-
boarding: | have been to North Cascade Heli with the

Mervin crew, Whistler Heli with Airwalk, Irwin Lodge”

with 2, and others. | have taken creative hikes that
have yielded great lines in a few resorts in Europe. All
of these were great experiences yet most memorable
would have to be two days when a fiend and | rode
with Craig Kelly and Dave Downing in the northem
Bridgers. These are the days that beckon you back to
those giant snow covered peaks. If you answer the

call, be ready, and be wise.

‘When traveling into the backcountry you must
be aware of the many risks around you, You must be
prepared. Know your surroundings and have a partner

with you that is also well versed in mountain

the layers of snow everywhere you will be. If
you take an educated approach you may avoid a
tragic outcome to an otherwise great day. |
‘would suggest a backcountry avalanche safety
course. in the last issue of Carve, there was info
‘ona level 1-avalanche course to be taught
January 28-30. For more info call (307) 344. ~
2294, Also in the last issue of carve was a great
article by, Doug Chabot, director of the Gallatin
National Forest Avalanche Center, which
addressed the use and need for three essential
backcountry tools — transceivers, stiovels and
probes. Know how to use these tools before you
{0 into the backcountry. These are the basic
must have items. Now we need to choose the
vehicle.

Splitsnowboards have come a long way
baby. There are two dominant brands, Voile, and
Burton. Each has minor différences and each offer
an efficient way to travel in the backcountry.

With Voile you can purchase a split kit to
convert your board of choice or opt for any of
the three lengths of their carbon fiber filled
decks. The Voile system is the easier of the two
to use. The bindings mount to plates.that slide
cover and bring together the halves. A large
keeper pin holds the place. Changing from
approach to riding mode is fast and easy dueto.
the simplicity and looser tolerances of the Voile.
Just don’t drop the pin when changing over. |
would advise you ‘carry an exta at all times.

‘The Burton split comes together using a
circular clamp, which surrounds and squeezes

JAN 2002 CARVE

together the two halves. There is not much tolerance for
ice build up and because of this itis much harder to
‘operate. This can be a serious drawback when you are
‘on top of a peak tying to assemble the board ina
deiving cold wind. The benefit of the Burton split is that
itvides the same as a conventional un-split board, To me
this is a great benefit.

This is the dream we have all béen waiting for.
‘Imagine a split that rides like a regular board. Until
now you there was sacrifice of performance if you
had a split. Gone are those days. If youre into the best
performance once youte in ding mode ther the
Burton is for you.

Both Voile and Burton have their own skins. The
differences are actually quite noticeable. The Voile
skins affix with a clip over the tip, and glue to the base
ending just short of the til, The Burton skins clip over
the taif and come forward up and over the tip.and
fave a d-ring, which slides over the wrap to hold it in
place. Reports have come in that this newer way works
‘well and that Burton may indeed have re-invented the
wheel in this respect.

‘A good set of collapsible poles is a must for

Jay Moore

getting around, Consider icing friendly designs and.
size of the basket on the pole when choosing poles.
Do they collapse down small enough to get into your
padk@ Does your pack hold it on the outside securely?
‘You don’t want to loose gear on the way down
whether itis your shovel blade, handle, or poles. You
may also want to carry a sinall set of snowshoes for

* the steep ascents. Something like the Verts shoe,

which is a smaller minimalistic one-piece
polycarbonate shoe, or a smaller traditional shoe with
a removable ll may be a good adiion tothe
arsenal.

Don't forget about hydration, Get yourself a
‘Camelback and don’t forget the winterizing tube
cover or you just may carry around a bunch of ice all
day. Little items like windproof lighters, binding
tools, extra ladderstraps, space blankets first aid kit
and even a safety whistle can be lifesavers.

hope this gear review gets you inspired to get
out there. Above all, remember when you get out to
.g0 with others who are also experienced, and that
‘you watch each others backs while‘out. Winter is
here, so get out there.



Snowmobiler survives avalanche

01/29/02

By NICK GEVOCK Chronicle Staff Writer
Respond to this story

Email this story to a friend

A Billings snowmobiler who was buried under four feet of snow near Cooke City Sunday got
by with a little, make that a lot, of help from his friends.

Two pals dug him out within 15 minutes, but not before Scott Olson had a brush with death.

"I was holding on so tight I ripped the grips off the aluminum bars," the 36-year-old Olson
said of his ride.

Olson said he was blazing up a gully around noon Sunday in the Miller Creek drainage, with
friends Donny Beer and Tyler Reichert following, when he saw the slide coming at him.

“By the time I noticed it, I was on it," he said. "All I wanted was to get to this rock pile."

Olson made a sharp turn in an attempt to avoid the bulk of the slide, but it was too late. He
said he felt the immense power of an avalanche as he tried to keep from getting buried.

"T was swimming as hard as I've ever swam in my life, trying to stay on top of the snow while
avoiding trees,” he said.

He couldn't pull it off. The slide took him “over, around and through" trees.

One of those trees broke his lower left leg. Olson said he did everything recommended, taking
a huge breath as the snow shallowed him and cupping his hands in front of his face to create
an air pocket.

It didn't matter. His chest was crushed by the weight, pushing al! of the wind out of him, he
said.

Beer and Reichert managed to barely escape the slide, although their machines were buried,
but later dug out and restarted. They located Olson right away, and had him out within 15
minutes.

"They did an amazing job," said Doug Chabot, an avalanche specialist with the Gallatin
Nationa! Forest who was in the area studying snow at the time and responded to the rescue.
"They saved his life, no question."

Olson drifted into unconsciousness while under, but his friends only had to clear his airway
after they extracted him from the snow. He said although he has ridden in the area many
times, the experience of the slide will change his snowmobiling habits.

“Everybody keeps telling me I'm lucky to get out of one, but I don't feel lucky to get into
one," he said. "From now on, I’m going to watch my places even better than before."
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/3 1 1/public/news245572.html



Bq sky Weekly -

pte ek,

The Friends of the Avalanche Center

--and, Hans Saari Memorial. Fund are .

happy to .present the <3rd . Annual
Avalanche. Center.-Party -on. Friday,
October 19 at the Emerson Cultural
Center from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Tickets are $20, your contribution :

will include: beer donated by Blackfoot

River Brewing Company and Spanish ~

Peaks Brewing Company, a chili feed

including salad, bread and dessert live

bluegrass band you have-ever heard, and

asilent auction for outdoor products and: .

more. Bid on ‘Patagonia; * LifeLink,
Ortovox,. Helly: Hansen, “Vasque and
much more.

Proceeds from Povide Blas 2201 1
will directly benefit the Galla
Forest Avalanche Center’ (GNEA\
GNFAC ‘puts | out’. dail
advisories ih addition to ieaching:

ig!
quality education programs peering a all-

outdoor recreationists.
_ The GNFAC covers

. _. Gallatin= Mountain, Maiigén’ ‘Rany
Washburn Range, =

“mountains -
surrounding Cooke City, anid Lionhead

ocr GS 200\

. area, near West Yellowstone.

Last:, year, 2000-2001, .was the
GNFACS 11th yeat of operation. During

that. year a shallow, weak, snowpack
* covered-most ‘of the westem US. and

contribited to 30 ayalanche fatalities
across ‘the’ country. Montana. did not
escape unscathed with 7 deaths (tying
Wyoming for the grim distinction of first
place), 5 of which occurred in southwest
Montana-by-April 20. Two climbers were
k, Sone
killed “in JackSon,
Montana, one skier ;was. Killed in the
Bridger. Ranige,”and ‘orie. snowmobiler
was killed. in.the south Madison Range.
There: ‘were 47:.teported avalanche
incidents: i Southwest Montana ‘last

.- S-mirtute-avalanche awareness shows to
multi-day--seminars, with participants
° third’ “graders and

varying from’

were accessed 1,116 times a day. This was
_ 262% increase’ over the previous year and

“as PowerPoint:presentations, placemats,

«place.

proessional ski patrollers to snowmobile
engineers. .. :
‘On’ average, 1 thé GNEACS advisories =

a 400% increase from five yeats ago.
‘Through.-grassroots. marketing such

magnets, .and their - website’.
(www.ntavalanithe.com), the: GNFAC is:-
working to take our backcounty.a safer
Backcountry” ignorance, ‘of
overconfidence for that matter; is a Be:
factor in fatalities. Failuie to ‘Tecognize:
avalanche terrain, unstable conditions,
and not Catrying rescue “gear “Gach as:
transceivers) _ can sum | ‘up Tost

are available -at Barrel’ Mountatheeting
Northern’ Ligtits” G86;

682- 1335),



anticipation. of strapy ingzol
carving the-winter’s

This year did't isin In ee
droves of hungry skiers took to the slopes
inaugural snowfall and consequently, just li
clockwork, triggered the winters first avaland

agaln.. Gerierally, if there is enough si
to be sliding on, then there's enough snow to
avalanche.

«teat sill be brown in the valleys, but as lo
as hé mountains have i venéet of white skiers and *

in the eatlipstason'is' say od tips
front ‘wii dept

‘careening down the slope. 1s relatively. ‘easy to.
search forrdepth hoar in a thin snowpack by poking’
ae pole or hand in the snow to see if faceted, .__
y'lodse snow is'at the ground, Depth hoar by
“eel Hes tng danger, but if its underlying a larger

onfusing- Our mission at the
| Forest Avalanche Genter is to
Ju- make. good, Safe decisions in the

tagestony viding d
sain Ti ‘These contain detailed field

vations, ‘mountain weather forecasts and an
avalanche danger rating that can assist everyone
entering avalanche terraiti. ,Our advisories are

31, and Feb. 2. We're

DOUG CHABOT

‘subscription ‘to the advisory.»

Another significant aspect ef our job is.
provid ag avalanche education. This winter we're
offering a Basic Avalanche Awareness Class, open
to all user groups, on the évenirigs of Déc. 5-6 with
a field session on the Dec. 8, and again on Jan. 30-
30 leaching anAdvanced.
Avalanche. Course Feb 6-7 with a field day on Feb.
9. Call ASMSU Outdoor Recreation, at: 994-3621

Additionally we are offering avalanche classé"
tailored pera for snowmobiter.. The first one

You can regisier for this one by call
Centerat 587-6964.

National Forest Avalariéhe Center.
National Fore! che’ Cer



IATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER

JAL.

11-2002

Table 3: 2000-2001 AVALANCHE FATALITIES

IDATE LOCATION
31-Mar Eagle River
22-MarTarghee Pass
21-Mar Jackson Peak
17-Mar Pagoda Peak
16-Mar Brighton
16-Mar Whitefish Range
15-Mar Telluride
14-Mar Ashcroft
14-Mar Aspen Mountain
12-Mar Big Hole Mountains

8-MarSugar Bowl
24-Feb Glenwood Springs
16-Feb Cooke City
10-FebWhitetish Range
6-Feb Crystal Mountain
1-Feb Aspen Highlands
31-Jan Uinta Mountains
26-Jan Bonner
12-Jan Paxton
31-Dec Phillipsbug
24-Dec Cantwell
23-Jan Hope
12-DecCordova
28-Nov Rollins Pass
11-Nov Hatcher Pass

STATE DETAILS

AK
ID
WY
co
UT
MT
co
co
co
ID
CA
co
MT
MT
co
co
UT
MT
AK
MT
AK
AK
AK
co
AK

2 snowshoers buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 backcountry skier buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

2 out-of-area snowboarders buried and killed
1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 out-of-area snowboarder buried an killed
1 backcountry skier buried and killed

1 out-of-area skier buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 out-of-area snowboarder buried an killed
1 snowmobiler buried and killed

2 snowmobilers buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 backcountry skier buried and killed -
1 skier buried and killed

1 backcountry skier buried and killed

4 snowmobilers buried and killed

2 snowmobilers buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 snowmobiler buried and killed

1 backcountry skier killed (drowned)

1 snowshoer buried and killed

TOTAL= 32 Avalanche Fatalities (as of 5-01-02)

1