The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center has a mission to help people understand avalanche danger and help them come home alive. Director of the Avalanche Center Mark Staples says the center puts on classes and presentations, but are most known for their daily avalanche forecasting through the winter.
“We literally go out when the first snowflakes are hitting the ground. Snow changes really fast, the danger can change in an instant. That’s why we put out forecasts seven days a week,” Staples said.
Throughout the winter Staples and three other staff forecasters are in constant communication.
“It will be ten o’clock at night on a random night, and we fire up a quick text thread just to get all on the same page, which is really important. I’d say that’s the secret sauce,” Staples said.
The team also collects observations from the public. Staples says overall this winter the mountain snowpack has been average and fairly stable.
“You know when you look at the snow it just looks like one homogenous mass of white snow, but it’s not , it’s a very layered thing, and all those layers are the results of the different weather patterns,” Staples said.
January had some sunny blue sky days, which were great for getting out in the snow, but Staples says that the downside is that also created a weak layer on the surface, which is now buried under fresh snow. Those weak layers breaking can trigger an avalanche.
“The danger has risen back up and that’s normal throughout the winter the danger goes up and down,” Staples said.
Staples says it seems like knowledge about avalanche risk is at an all time high, and is glad that there have not been any fatalities or major accidents in the region this winter.
“Hopefully we have a small role in that but we're just really happy that everyones been able to get out and have fun and stay safe,” Staples said.
He also encourages anyone recreating in the backcountry to continue educating themselves and reflecting on experiences. The team will continue forecasting through around mid-April
