NewsOutdoors

Actions

3 snowmobilers escape uninjured from avalanche near Big Sky

Hard-slab avalanche was about 1,500 feet wide
Posted at 2:14 PM, Jan 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-06 16:30:30-05

Three snowmobilers triggered and got caught in an avalanche on Buck Ridge near Big Sky Saturday, according to the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. No injuries were reported from the slide.

According to the Avalanche Center, the group triggered a hard-slab avalanche that buried two of them in waist-deep snow. Their snowmobiles were buried under approximately three feet of debris.

The slab was around 1,500 feet wide and four to six feet thick, the Avalanche Center said.

The center said similar large slides have occurred over the past two days, including "a natural slide on Saddle Peak, a natural on Yellow Mountain near Big Sky, and deep avalanches triggered by Big Sky and Bridger Bowl ski patrols during control work."

As of Sunday, the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Forecast listed conditions as "moderate" for avalanche danger.