HUNGRY HORSE - Two people were unharmed after being caught and carried roughly 150 feet in an avalanche on Sunday in the Flathead Mountain Range.
Flathead Avalanche Center Forecaster Cameron Johnson said they’re starting to see an uptick in reports of human-triggered avalanches.
“A lot of these reported avalanches are in wind-drifted snow, so areas where the wind is transporting snow into thicker slabs that can be possible to trigger for a human,” said Johnson.
Despite a slightly lower-than-average snowpack in Northwest Montana for this time of year, Johnson said consistent winds on mountain slopes are creating wind slabs, which can easily break causing avalanches.
“We’ve had consistent days of some of our remote weather stations reporting averages of 25 miles an hour and a lot of reporting from 10 to 20 miles an hour, so really good speeds for forming wind slabs and it doesn’t matter a lot of times if snow fell that day, if there’s loose snow sitting on the surface and the winds pick up, it’s a recipe for a wind slab,” Johnson explained.
Johnson said the group of skiers caught in Sunday’s avalanche reported the information to the avalanche center’s observations page. He said that information is valuable because it allows professional forecasters to further analyze the avalanche area and warn others of potential danger.
“The best way to learn about avalanches is by looking at them, and so we can glean a lot of information from these events."
Johnson advises backcountry enthusiasts to check their website daily for an updated avalanche forecast and to always be prepared for the worst to happen.
“Have the tools, shovel, beacon, probe and know how to use those, and have a partner in case the unforeseen happens and you do need a rescue, two is a lot better than one in that instance," Johnson advised.
