Skiers enjoy powder days; avalanche warnings in effect

While the weekend’s severe winter storm made for hazardous road conditions in Northwest Montana and created extreme avalanche danger in high-elevation areas, skiers and snowboarders received three days of deep powder at local ski areas.

Three-day snowfall totals varied throughout Northwest Montana, with 18 inches being reported in Bigfork to 3 feet in Polebridge and Martin City, according to the National Weather Service.

Kalispell was hit with 20 inches, while Olney received 31 inches and 30 to 32 inches dumped in the Libby area.

The National Weather Service recorded a 72-hour total of 36 inches at the summit of Blacktail Mountain, and Whitefish Mountain Resort reported 29 inches of powder atop Big Mountain Friday through Monday morning.

“Today being a powder day, a snow day, with a lot of kids out of school, that was fun,” said Whitefish Mountain spokeswoman Riley Polumbus on Monday afternoon. “It was a really great total for today, with 11 [inches] overnight and 14 in 24 hours.”

The storm brought the resort’s season total to 210 inches as of Monday morning. By Feb. 6, the summit of Big Mountain had broken the 200-inch mark just twice in the previous 10 years, she added.

Out of bounds, however, skiers were advised to stay off the slopes.

The Flathead Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning Monday morning that carried its highest level of snow-slide danger for the mountains of southern Glacier National Park, the Swan Mountains and the Whitefish Mountain Range. The center’s advisory noted that both natural and human-triggered avalanches were certain at elevations above 6,000 feet.

“The current storm has added over 3 feet of [snow] to a snowpack that consists of a variety of weak layers,” the advisory noted. “Avoid all avalanche terrain. Stay off of and out from underneath slopes steeper than 30 degrees. Avalanches may run long distances and can reach into mature forests.”

The dire warnings extended north of the border as well. Waterton Lakes National Park issued an advisory Monday that included its highest level of danger for tree line and alpine areas, with “very dangerous avalanche conditions” below the tree line.

To view the Flathead Avalanche Center’s current advisory, updated each morning, visit www.flatheadavalanche.org.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.