avy conditions

Submitted by michael_layton on Mon, 11/22/2004 - 17:09
looks like it snowed and will be snowin'...but sometimes (almost always) forecasts are misleading. How do y'all think avy conditions are in the mtns right now round bozeman?

[quote="BozemanIce"]check out [url]www.mtavalanche.com[/url] they are usually pretty good with the avy situation. We crossed some avy shoots yesterday and they seemed pretty stable. In spots you might want to check the layers of snowpack too.[/quote] Thanks! I already read that before I posted, but it's good to have others see it. The site really didn't give label on what conditions were, like "moderate above treeline" like I'm used to reading. Probably b/c it is too early in the season. But didn't climbers recently die on the Sphinx in an Avy? That's why I'm asking the folks that actually go outside in these types of conditions. It's too bad they aren't updating until wednessday, since I gotta decide by then whether to make the drive from Portland. I would be concidering the Sphinx. So what do you guys and gals think the avy conditions will be like on friday? If the answer is scary, then can anyone suggest a long route that would be worth a 14 hour drive? I'd be driving to Banff instead which is just as far, so either way i'll be consuming mass quantities of petroleum distilates. Ice "craggin" routes aren't really worth a drive that long for 1-2 days of climbing, there's lots of movies and internet porn that I could catch up on instead. Help a brotha' out. Let me know what you think, not the most cautious answer, I can't afford lawyers anyways. Avy conditoins = how bad you want to climb anyways.

I don't think the amount of snow we have right now can cause a really bad slide. The climbers on sphinx were traversing a ledge that broke free and dropped them over a series of cliffs. If you cross anything that looks bad just take your time and be delicate in your steps, bring a beacon and shovel too if you get that scared. There are plenty of good routes waiting to be climbed when you get here. G1 to G2, twin falls to palace butte, killer pillar, bobo like, mummy 2, hangover, upper greensleeves and many more are all in. I'm sure you could get more than enough climbing in. If you don't hike up to the climbs like palace butte the avy danger is really non existant. Most of these climbs are in the trees too.

Don't disreguard those avy posts on the avalanche site. Those guys are out in the field all the time and receive reports from people out in the field as well. Look at old posts on the site and it will give you a good idea of the type of snowpack that has been created thus far.

I should point out that: If the GNFAC avalanche report at http://mtavalanche.com/current ( which I encourage veryone to visit regularly, perhaps daily) seems vague, it might be because avalanche conditions are exceptionally variable; For the climber, this would require additional time to dig a pit and check out the conditions in that exact particular area- and conditions might be very different a short distance away.

thanks Jim, good point. I didn't think the conditions sounded too good, at least not enough for such a long drive for one climb that might not go. I'll be in the area for 3 weeks in dec/jan though.
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