Avalanche Danger High as More Snow Falls on the Flathead

The Flathead Avalanche Center (FAC) has issued another Special Avalanche Bulletin for February 20th through 23rd, 2014 to advise backcountry travelers of the elevated avalanche danger through the weekend. The Flathead Avalanche Center advisory area has been under an Avalanche Warning since Sunday with the Hazard Rating at HIGH, meaning natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. The FAC has received many reports of natural avalanches and close calls from human triggered avalanches.

The advisory includes the Flathead, Swan and Whitefish ranges within the Flathead National Forest and portions of Glacier National Park.

FAC will be issuing regularly scheduled advisories on Saturday and Sunday, and will issue a special advisory on Friday and continue the avalanche warning if the conditions warrant. Even if the threat of natural avalanches decreases, the potential for human triggered avalanches will remain elevated, while the magnitude of the avalanches will increase as time passes. If you would like more information, the Flathead Avalanche Center and Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol will host a discussion on current avalanche conditions at 6:30 on Friday at the Columbia Falls City Council Chambers, City Hall, 130 6th St West.

Flathead National Forest Supervisor Chip Weber says, “The Flathead Avalanche Center and its partners are working hard to stay on top of the current, elevated avalanche hazard. Please utilize the information they put out when planning your outings. Public safety is our top priority for the forest, its partners and all users. We encourage backcountry users to use caution this weekend.”

FAC and its partners are urging backcountry users to make very conservative decisions this weekend while choosing terrain and making decisions. This will be a good weekend to stay out of avalanche terrain or choose only low angle slopes with low exposure and consequences. Because of the current avalanche hazard, some groups have cancelled planned outings. The Summit Snowgoers Club cancelled their outing scheduled for Saturday at the Skyland area and the Flathead Snowmobile Association is going to delay grooming the Canyon Creek Trail until conditions moderate.

For additional information, please visit the Flathead Avalanche Center website. For updated weather forecasts and conditions, please click here.



Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Flathead Avalanche Center Issues Special Avalanche Advisory

The Flathead Avalanche Center is issuing a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the entire advisory area (this includes Glacier National Park, and the Flathead and Kootenai National Forests). Heavy snowfall, strong winds, and expected continued heavy snow have created highly unstable conditions. Natural and human triggered avalanches are likely.The avalanche danger is rated HIGH on all slopes within the advisory area. Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended and avalanche runout zones should be avoided.

This warning will either be terminated or updated by 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 19.

Natural and human triggered avalanche activity has been observed over the past 72 hours. Additional heavy snowfall and wind loading occurred Monday and Monday night continuing unstable conditions.

For additional information, please visit the Flathead Avalanche Center website. For updated weather forecasts and conditions, please click here.



Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Avalanche Awareness Event with Avalanche Experts and Backcountry Enthusiasts

The Flathead Avalanche Center, along with a number of partners, is hosting an evening avalanche safety awareness event at the Whitefish Moose Lodge on Tuesday, February 19, 2013. The program will focus on decision making when traveling into avalanche country.

Program presenters include:

* Mark Dundas with Big Mountain Ski Patrol Inc.: “Backcountry around Whitefish Mountain Resort”

* Steve Burgland with Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol and Erich Peitzsch, Snow Scientist with USGS: “Recent Incidents”

* Seth Carbonari with USFS and the Flathead Avalanche Center (FAC): “Flathead Avalanche Center – A Resource for Decision Making”

The event is the evening of February 19, 2013. The program will run from 6:30 to 8:00 with an opportunity to socialize from 8:00 to 9:00. The event is at the Whitefish Moose Lodge, 230 West 10th Street in Whitefish.

For additional information, visit the FAC website at flatheadavalanche.org/education/ or call the Flathead National Forest at 406-758-5204.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Advanced Avalanche Awareness Classes Offered

The Flathead Avalanche Center (FAC) is hosting an Advanced Avalanche Awareness class which is a free course and is open to the public. No registration is needed. The 2013 classroom sessions will also be held at the Flathead National Forest office in Kalispell from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the following days:

Monday, January 7th
Wednesday, January 9th
Monday, January 14th
Wednesday, January 16th

The two field Sessions will be held at the Whitefish Mountain Resort from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the following days:

Saturday, January 12th
Saturday, January 19th

For additional information on avalanche education classes and avalanche conditions, please visit the new Flathead Avalanche Center website at flatheadavalanche.org. You can also sign up to follow the center on Twitter at twitter.com/FACAvalanche. Avalanche advisories are issued weekly on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The phone number to call for recorded avalanche advisories remains the same: 406-257-8402.

For additional information please contact FAC coordinator Tony Willits at 406-837-7546.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Flathead Avalanche Center to Launch New Website

The Flathead Avalanche Center (FAC) will launch a new website on November 16th, 2012, to provide information on avalanche conditions and avalanche education opportunities. The website will launch with basic information, but will evolve to be responsive to the public’s needs. In addition to a new website, there is also a FAC Twitter feed which people can follow to receive immediate updates and notifications. The center will begin issuing advisories on December 8th unless there is not enough snow or conditions dictate a need to start earlier.

The new FAC website is part of an ongoing reorganization of the Flathead National Forest’s (FNF) avalanche program. FNF Snow and Avalanche Specialist Tony Willits is the center’s coordinator. Willits says “I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead as we try to provide quality information and education so recreationist can make good choices.”

The FAC is also increasing the number of weekly advisories from two to three, which will now include a Saturday advisory in addition to the Tuesday and Friday advisories. The advisories will cover the prominent ranges in the Flathead and Kootenai national forests and some portions of Glacier National Park.

The new FAC website address is www.flatheadavalanche.org, and you can follow the FAC Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/FACAvalanche. The phone number to call for recorded avalanche advisories remains the same: 406-257-8402.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park