MT 09/10 HYPE!

Anyone venture up into the Bozeman area mountains today? Thinking about hitting Bridger early tomorrow morning but am wondering if the snow quality is going to be worth enduring the shitshow.
 
I'm giving it another day, I'm pretty worried about how this new stuff is going to bond to the faceted, shitty old snow it's falling on top of. If you get to Bridger make sure you do it early for parking, and watch what's going on above you. There will be a lot of people out there who are a little excited excited (as usual).
 
just got the GNFAC report

November in Southwest Montana always seems to offer up a variety of conditions. Over the past few weeks I have talked to people who have participated in a wide range of outdoor activities varying from ice climbing and skiing to rock climbing and road biking all in the same day. Cold temps in the higher elevations have preserved the existing snowpack on northerly aspects above 8,000 ft. These north facing slopes have become weak and faceted creating a very unstable base for the new snow to fall on.

In the past 24 hours, over a foot of high density snow has fallen in most areas. This rapid load on a weak snowpack has created the perfect recipe for avalanches. Yesterday I climbed the North Face of Sphinx Mountain south of Big Sky. Check out a photo at:

http://www.mtavalanche.com/images/09/north-face-sphinx-mountain-11-nov-09

Check out a short video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyf-GNskE6o

I experienced extremely windy conditions on south and west facing slopes, but found calmer and snowier conditions on the north face. The most snow I encountered was on mid elevation slopes protected from the wind with a N to NE facing aspect. These slopes held 18 inches of snow and were comprised mainly of wind slabs sitting on top of six inches of facets. Due to the fact that most north facing slopes in the forecasting area hold similar conditions, I would avoid traveling on steep, north facing slopes in the days to come since they could avalanche. Already this season there have been multiple natural and human triggered avalanches resulting in close calls and minor injuries. Preseason conditions exist, so be careful of rocks, stumps, and other obstacles under the snow. Before heading into the backcountry make sure everyone is carrying avalanche rescue gear and be sure you know how to use it.
 
That's one of the benefits of having AT gear. Breaking trail on my Zealots is glorious when I think of bootpacking.
Be careful out there guys, there's going to be a lot of sharks under the surface and probably quite a bit of natural slide activity.
 
Hiked Bridger today top of chair, pretty nice boot pack trail already, deep got bunch of face shots no rocks for me my buddy hit one bad. didn't go to the top of the ridge snow was sliding out in big slabs be careful still fun as hell
 
Yeah went up bridger today. Snow was really good but really unstable as well. I kicked off a few really good crowns just traversing around. Skiing is dope... be smart though
 
thats the best idea just don't do it across the road or near it. we got kicked out last year because we were trying to gap the road right by that first camp ground you come to on your way up! it was a blast till they forced us to tear it down though.
 
Who's "they"? Forest Service Ranger? I usually just go to that field on your right a thats a mile or so past the reservoir. The jump over the creek is fun too but that'll have to wait until later in the season.
 
well it started out as forest service rangers who really didn't seem to care but then the rangers came back with this really pissed off forest service officer who did not take kindly to us being there, turns out the forest service has cops. who knew? i didn't till then. i went up before there was any snow this year and was checking out the the field your talking about i think looks like a really good place to build.
 
Went up yesterday and built a decent jump, thought there would be more snow than there was though. I'd say that I definitely have more snow in my yard on the east side of town than there is up there.
 
Great Divide

It’s finally here! The Good Luck chairlift will be open this Sunday, November 15th! We will be running the lift from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. We have 3000’ of well covered freshly groomed terrain. We will have WildWood Terrain park open with 8 features. Tickets will be $9.00 for the day. The Backyard beginner rope tow will be... running with free introductory ski instruction. Food and Beverages will be available and the rental shop will be open for daily rental and season leases! Read More
 
I just got back from skiing Mt. Blackmore. There was probably 8" of new snow at the reservoir, but it got deeper as we went up, there was probably 14-16" up at the peak. We dug a pit at the meadow just before entering the bowl below the peak and there was around a 4' base, with a couple faceted layers toward the middle and bottom of the snowpack. Surprisingly it held up well, and we didn't get any clean shears doing compression tests. The snow was bonded well enough to the ground that it pulled up dirt when we flipped over the bottom block, and the snow, although pretty rotten, actually seemed to bond ok to itself. However, that was on an east-facing slope that never sees sun or wind for the most part.Up higher, there was a little wind effect going on, and a lot more prominent crust below the new snow (this was on E/SE facing stuff). Some other guys dug a pit on a SE-facing slope at around 9,000-9,500', and they got a clean shear at 15 during their compression test. There wasn't any collapsing going on, but it was enough to where we kept only one person on the entire slope at a time. The skiing was really good though, it was boot or knee deep all the way down until the trail began. I didn't see any natural activity, but it was also snowing and the clouds were super low, so there could have been some--just not where we were skinning. So the snowpack is looking pretty good for this time of the year, but keep in mind that it is still super variable.
 
^Here ya go.

That looks really fun, nice job spinning both ways.

First Snow of 09 from Jeremy Gould on Vimeo.

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So LT just bought new park bulley snowcats. They also expanded the lodge. Im sensing good things from LT this year. on a side note Brandon Becker is living in salmon this year and will be up at LT occasionally to shred sick!!
 
so baker is getting hammered right now... im hoping that storm stops drifting norht and heads our way.
 
Big Sky Resort will open Thanksgiving Day with $39 lift tickets. Lifts scheduled to open include the Lone Peak Triple, Challenger, Swift Current and Explorer.
 
I am gonna try to be there tomorrow...If I can find out where the bus picks up and which times...yay for being the only one on my floor!
 
ooh that is nice. i think im headin down for sunday. free ski week starts then so shredding at bsky sounds sick
 
Anyone in the Gallatin Valley have an old pair of old skis/bindings they want to offload? I know this probably belongs in buy/sell/trade but I'm not interested in anything that's not local/easy. They'd be for my roommate that's not looking for anything special, but definitely something cheap.
 
i heard that lost trail may open this weekend.

december 18th for snowbowl with possible weekend opening before then.

big mountain this weekend.

there were more listed in the paper today that i will try and look at again
 
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