Mr. Avalanche: Stan Bones has been monitoring snow conditions since 1983
Stan Bones loves to talk about hoarfrost, crystal consolidation and slab fractures.
Down to a microscopic scale, Bones talks about how snow responds to temperature changes, wind and new moisture. He's seen the effects in countless snow pits, and in the aftermath of avalanches large and small.
Bones is arguably the most seasoned veteran in monitoring avalanche potential and activity in Northwest Montana.
A Forest Service engineering technician since the late 1960s, Bones got involved with monitoring snow conditions in 1983 as part of an organized regionwide network that evolved into the Glacier Country Avalanche Center. Venturing into the field on snowmobile and skis twice a week, Bones is a regular contributor to the center's weekly advisories on avalanche hazards, and he leads regular avalanche education seminars.
"It's just a keen interest I've had," said Bones, who lives in Bigfork. "A lot of people learn about avalanches because they're a threat to what they do. I had to learn to ski so I could learn more about snow and avalanches. It's just an intriguing natural phenomenon that I'm interested in."
Because of his long-running involvement in monitoring snow conditions across the region and his deep interest in the subject, Bones could be considered the region's "Mr. Avalanche." But that's a mantle that he assumed from several men who were pioneers in raising awareness about avalanche potential in the region.
By Bones' account, the late wilderness ranger Cal Tassinari was the first to do so. Tassinari had gained his experience working on Mount Rose near Reno, Nev., prior to arriving in the Flathead, where he was a ranger in the Mission Mountain Wilderness.
"Prior to Cal's time here, no one really understood avalanches around here," Bones said.
But that changed quickly. Tassinari got involved with avalanche monitoring on Big Mountain in the mid-1970s and started leading avalanche courses at Flathead Valley Community College.
"I've heard it said that the management at Big Mountain said, 'We never had an avalanche program until Cal Tassinari came along,'" Bones recalls of Tassinari, who died last year. "He took on that title of Mr. Avalanche and it was very well deserved."
Bones contends that avalanche expertise developed gradually as a result of a steady growth in the popularity of winter sports. In the 1950s, mostly mountaineers were involved with avalanches. But in the 1960s, there was a development boom in commercial ski resorts largely on national forest lands. Avalanche accidents followed soon after, and because many resorts were located on national forest lands, the U.S. Forest Service got involved in avalanche monitoring, issuing advisories and avalanche control.
In the 1970s, backcountry skiing away from ski resorts grew in popularity. "Snow rangers" such as Tassinari and later, Bones, emerged from the ranks of the Forest Service.
The evolution of avalanche education in the Flathead was picked up by Big Mountain ski patroller Gerry Osborne in the late 1970s, with Osborne organizing the first systematic advisory system involving regular reports from field observers such as Tassinari and Bones.
Since then, Bones said, avalanche incidents have followed a huge boom in snowmobiles and "extreme" snowboarders and skiers who are venturing farther into the backcountry than ever before.
Bones said several events in the Flathead area have gradually propelled interest and concern about avalanches.
In 1969, five climbers were killed by an avalanche on Glacier National Park's Mount Cleveland. In 1978, a skier was killed by an avalanche on the Big Mountain's west bowl. In February 1979, a massive avalanche wiped out the Goat Lick bridge on U.S. 2 east of Essex.
On New Year's Eve 1994, five snowmobilers were killed and two narrowly survived an avalanche on Peter's Ridge along the Swan Mountain Range.
But mostly, interest in avalanche dynamics and rescue has grown along with the expansion of winter recreationists into the backcountry. Courses led by Bones and other instructors with the Glacier Country Avalanche Center regularly draw strong interest.
"We're seeing people in places now that 15 to 20 years ago nobody was going to," Bones said.
Bones recalls having to break tracks with his old snowmobile, which was vastly underpowered by today's standards, every time he ventured into the Noisy Basin on the Swan Mountain Range to conduct snow surveys.
That was 20 years ago. Now, he says there are other people on snowmobiles and skis every time he goes to the same places.
"And it's the same everywhere," Bones said.
While winter recreationists are increasingly savvy about avalanche dangers, Bones says experience definitely pays off. The regular avalanche advisories are useful to raise awareness about general conditions in Northwest Montana, but they don't provide site-specific information.
Being able to assess snow conditions and immediate area will always fall to the judgment of the person in that area, he said.
After more than 20 years of studying snow conditions and weather patterns, Bones says he can often predict what a snow pit will confirm.
"Knowledge teaches you the rules, but experience teaches you the exceptions," he said.
For more information on the Glacier Country Avalanche Center on the Internet, look for:
http://www.glacieravalanche.org
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com