Avalanche danger hits 'high' level

| March 7, 2009 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

The Glacier Country Avalanche Center has issued a "high" avalanche advisory for the Glacier National Park and Flathead and Kootenai national forest areas.

"We're currently rating the avalanche danger as high on those steep, open slopes that have received significant amounts of either precipitated or wind-deposited snow over the last three days," said Stan Bones, an avalanche specialist with the Flathead Forest.

"The outlook is for the avalanche danger to remain near the current elevated level through the weekend as another strong weather system is forecasted to approach the region Saturday night."

During the week, mountain ranges along the northern tier of Northwest Montana received 10 to 16 inches of new snow. The snow was accompanied by strong winds.

Whitefish Mountain Resort and Blacktail Mountain Ski Area each had five inches of new snow on Thursday.

"Unstable soft and wind slab layers are likely on a variety of aspects and slope angles," the advisory states. "Both natural and human-triggered avalanches are likely. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended."

The Glacier Country Avalanche Center is available online at: