Snowmobilers escape Canyon Creek slide
Four snowmobilers escaped a large avalanche Saturday in the Canyon Creek area north of Big Mountain, and the Flathead Avalanche Center has rated the avalanche danger as high in Northwest Montana.
Saturday’s avalanche was triggered by a snowmobiler on a south-facing slope, one in a series of chutes known as “Snook Chutes” or “Seven Sisters.”
The avalanche was about 900 feet wide and ran about 700 vertical feet, reaching and crossing Canyon Creek Road. The avalanche reportedly left six feet of debris on the road, a main snowmobile route.
The avalanche center said four snowmobilers were caught in the slide and partially buried but they were extricated and were able to ride out of the area on their own.
At noon Monday, the avalanche center expanded its backcountry avalanche warning to include the mountains surrounding the Flathead and Swan valleys, the Whitefish Range and the Middle Fork Flathead River corridor.
Heavy snowfall, strong winds and more expected snow “have created highly unstable conditions,” the warning states. “Natural and human-triggered avalanches are likely. The avalanche danger is rated high on all slopes within the advisory area.”
On Sunday, natural avalanches were observed in the John F. Stevens Canyon along the Middle Fork on the southern boundary of Glacier National Park west of Marias Pass.
Avalanche advisories are typically issued on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, but because of the volatile conditions more frequent advisories are being issued.
The advisories can be found online at: http://www.flatheadavalanche.org.
The Marias Pass area was under a blizzard warning Monday with up to 10 inches of snow and winds gusting from 55 to 75 mph possible.
Elsewhere in Montana, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office says a 35-year-old woman suffered a broken leg on Sunday after she was caught in an avalanche near Big Sky in southwestern Montana.
The woman was with a group of backcountry skiers who triggered the slide. She was carried down the mountain and ended up partially buried and pinned against a tree.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.