By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
KALISPELL - Avalanche danger is extremely high throughout western Montana and could remain elevated throughout the winter, as the worst of the instability is buried deep in the snowpack.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is the reality,” said Steve Karkanen of the West Central Montana Avalanche Center in Missoula. Unless an unseasonable heat wave melds the snowpack together, or avalanches scour the slopes and snow begins again from scratch, “then it’s going to be a pretty tricky year,” Karkanen said. “That weak layer is pretty well insulated down there, so it’s not going away anytime soon.” (read more . . .)
Wax your skis and dust off your snorkels, Nordic skiers - Chief Joseph Pass is open for business.
Around 16 inches of new snow fell last week, giving cross-country skiers 34 inches of snow and 24 kilometers of ski trails. Trail groomers set the tracks on Dec. 27, and described snow conditions and skiing as “excellent.”
The cross-country trail system is open free to the public off Highway 43, west of Wisdom.
Volunteers from the club groom the ski trails on Fridays and then send a report to the Forest Service.
The cross-country ski trails at Chief Joseph Pass are along the Continental Divide in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Bitterroot, and Salmon-Challis national forests.
A warming hut one mile in from the parking lot offers skiers a chance to warm up and enjoy their sack lunches out of the weather.
For more information, call the Forest Service in Wisdom, at (406) 689-3243.
Avalanches killed 36 people last year in the United States, most of them backcountry recreationists. Advice on how to play safe in the winter is available in most Western mountain communities. For a link to your local avalanche center, drop by http://avalanche.org. For a virtual tour of avalanche terrain, check out www.fsavalanche.com. Avalanche training courses are available this winter in Kalispell, Missoula and Bozeman. Local Forest Service offices also can provide tips on how to access avalanche safety information in your area.
Avalanche advisories
By MICHAEL JAMISON
of the Missoulian
KALISPELL – An upside-down snowpack is creating dangerous avalanche conditions for western Montana, as a heavy warm snow falls atop a cold and sugary base – with a weak, icy crust at the bottom.
“This is a tricky time in the mountains of western Montana,” reported Missoula-based avalanche forecaster Steve Karkanen, “so it is very important to have not only good mountain riding and travel skills, but also have good avalanche assessment skills.”
Conditions range from “moderate” or “considerable” avalanche risk in the north to “high” risk in the south, with a backcountry avalanche warning in effect for the southern Gallatin and southern Madison ranges, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range in northern Yellowstone National Park.
“Do your best to temper your desire to ski or ride the steep and the deep,” warned Ron Johnson, of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. “Resort skiing, ski touring on mellow terrain or ‘boondocking’ with your sled would be good choices for today’s backcountry outings.”
The trouble began when a hard ice crust formed on shallow snow, following a mild melt back in early December, forecasters said. Then came bitter cold and dry snows, which did not bond well with the ice layer beneath.
The loose and sugary snowpack above was carried across ridgelines by high winds, collecting on leeward slopes and filling gullies with light, dry snow.
On top of all that is an isolated slab of wind-worked snow, making the pack a bit like mashed potatoes perched on dandelion fluff on top of an ice rink on top of ball bearings.
Finally, the Christmas week has brought warming temperatures, and a deep dense snowfall that now weighs heavy on the weak and layered pack beneath.
“Remember the adage, be careful what you ask for?” Karkanen said. “Well, we’re getting what we’ve been asking for,” by which he means snow to play in.
“The problem is that it’s coming in a way that our current basal snowpack layers cannot support.” (more…)
Montana Snowbowl’s Andy Morris surveys a snowmaker for proper operation at the Missoula area on Sunday evening. With favorable sub-zero temperatures, Morris can channel nearly 4,300 gallons of water through each machine every hour. Recent natural snowfall has greatly helped Montana Snowbowl–they plan to reopen for full operation on Thursday, December 18th.
Arthur Mouratidis
Record low temperatures and blizzard conditions in northwest Montana should make for an eventful weekend, so if you go out and play, send your condition reports and frostbite photos to tscott@missoulian.com.
Seriously, though, wind chills by Sunday morning will be in the 20-below range throughout western Montana, so bundle up.
National Weather Service forecasters say the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys can expect less in the way of snowfall - only a couple of inches - while the Flathead area could get a half-foot or more, with up to two feet in the mountains.
Check for weather updates throughout the weekend on Missoulian.com
By Will Moss
Ravalli Republic
Is it possible to alter the weather using the raw power of the mind?
Skeptics say no, but local powder hounds might want to test that hypothesis this weekend by willing a much-hyped winter storm a little further south towards Lost Trail Powder Mountain.
According to Peter Felsch, a Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Missoula, the incoming arctic system has the potential to dump anywhere from 8 inches to 15 inches on ski areas in the northwestern part of the state this weekend.
However, the storm’s heavy precipitation is expected to skirt north of the Bitterroot. The winter recreation snow forecast on the NWS’s Weather.gov Web site is predicting heavy snow in the northwest mountains above 4,000 feet south through the Rattlesnake Wilderness and Lolo Pass.
But, says Felsch, it looks likely that the brunt of the storm will pass north of Ravalli County.
Felsch speculates that Lost Trail Pass could receive somewhere around eight inches of new snow by Sunday.
That’s about 16 inches less than Lost Trail Area Operator Scott Grasser is hoping to get by next Thursday – LT’s tentative opening day.
“We’ve got about 18 to 24 inches on the ground right now,” Grasser said, “we need another 18 to get the tractors out and then another six to get it all cleaned up.”
(more…)
Forecasters in Jackson Hole, Wyo., had this to say about the hopes and expectations of our friends and neighbors:
http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=3983
The Missoulian’s Arthur Mouratidis put together a helpful slideshow on nordic ski waxing, featuring Dan Dahlberg over at Open Road. Here’s the link: http://www.orbicycleandnordic.com/publish_to_web/index.html/publish_to_web/index.html
The Lolo and Clearwater National Forests will restrict traffic on sections of four snowmobile trails in the Lolo Creek area this winter to separate log haul truck traffic and recreational snowmobile traffic.
The trails are on Forest Service roads that Plum Creek Timber currently is using for winter logging operations on their privately owned land, which lies beyond the restricted areas. Plum Creek uses the roads under a road easement agreement with the Forest Service.
The restrictions are being implemented for public safety and will affect only weekday traffic. Recreational snowmobile traffic will be allowed on the affected trail sections on the weekends.
These restrictions will be monitored by the Forest Service and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The decision to implement the restricted use was made in cooperation with FWP, and the Missoula Snowgoers, a local snowmobile organization. Restrictions will be lifted once Plum Creek completes work in the area.
Maps with the trail restrictions will be posted at affected trailheads, the Lolo Pass Visitor Center, and the Lolo Hot Springs Resort. The maps will be updated as restrictions change and trails become available.
The following trail sections will be affected: (more…)
Discovery will open this Saturday and Sunday after 18 inches of snow fell at the summit this week.
“We got some snow this week, and even though it’s still early-season conditions, we wanted to get things running,” said Ciche Pitcher, resort director.
Pitcher said 35 percent of the mountain (two of six chairlifts) will open this weekend only, and reported between 20 and 24 inches of snow at the mountain top, and 12 to 15 inches at the base.
The front side of Rumsey Mountain is pretty thin, he said, but Jubilee and the entire back side are holding up well. So, if you like the steeps, get down like James Brown.
Discovery will close again next week, but will re-open on Dec 13. Beginning Dec. 20, the ski area will open full time. That’s seven days a week for the entire season.
Pitcher said he hopes the upcoming snowfall will support those objectives.
“It’s still a little on the skinny side for where we’d like to be,” he said.
You’ll recall that Discovery had some good early-season snow in October, which quickly dissipated with warm temperatures and the November rain. Here’s to the next one.
