Avalanche
A skier was caught and buried in an inbounds avalanche at Bridger Bowl, Montana, on Sunday, December 15. The avalanche occurred in open terrain in the Papa Bear region below Bridger Gully. Thankfully, the skier was buried just below the surface and was able to punch a hole up through the top of the snow for fresh air. This enabled his friend and other members of the public to find and retrieve the buried skier quickly. The skier was uninjured.
“On December 15th, 2024 at 12:09 p.m., a skier in open terrain was caught and buried by an avalanche in the Papa Bear region below Bridger Gully. The skier, who was with a partner, was buried just below the snow surface and was able to punch a hole up through the top of the snow. The skier’s partner and other members of the skiing public responded quickly and were able to extricate the uninjured skier.
Although rare, inbounds avalanches may happen and are defined in the skier’s responsibility code as an inherent risk of skiing, even within ski area boundaries. We share this as a reminder of the importance of skiing and riding with a partner, especially in deep snow conditions.”
Notes about snowpack:
Slide was 8 inches deep, 450 feet wide, and broke within the storm snow 2 inches above the new snow/old snow interface. Trigger unknown.
The Alpine weather station received 2.5″ snow = 0.2″ SWE from 2200 on 12/14 to 0300 on 12/15, then intense snowfall from 0700 to 1200 added 7″ and 1″SWE for a storm total of 9.5″=1.2″SWE over 14 hours as of noon.
– Preliminary report by the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
This marks the second early-season avalanche at Bridger Bowl following an avalanche in early November.
The resort shared details of the avalanche on its social media accounts, concluding the piece with an important reminder, stating: “Although rare, inbounds avalanches may happen and are defined in the skier’s responsibility code as an inherent risk of skiing, even within ski area boundaries. We share this as a reminder of the importance of skiing and riding with a partner, especially in deep snow conditions. Please be safe out there!”
Steamboat Resort, Colorado, recently issued a critical safety alert to all visitors following what officials call the “largest avalanche slide in resort history.” The natural avalanche occurred on Sunday, December 1, after significant snowfall at the end of November, in the chutes skiers’ right of Bar-UE chairlift.
Kudos to Bridger Bowl and Steamboat for sharing these incidents and using them as an educational moment for all of us.
Bridger Bowl is 15 miles from Bozeman, Montana, boasting a peak elevation of 8,700 feet and a vertical drop of 2,600 feet. The ski area offers more than 70 trails across a skiable area of 2,000 acres and is serviced by eight chair lifts.
