KALISPELL — The Flathead Avalanche Center is gearing up for a busy winter season with their annual Northern Rockies Snow and Avalanche Workshop kickoff event on Saturday, November 9.
Forecasters are calling for a La Nina winter season which means colder temperatures and higher-than-average snowfall totals expected across Northwest Montana’s mountains.
“So far it’s shaping up to a pretty good start,” said Flathead Avalanche Center Forecaster Cam Johnson.
With the local hills covered in snow, excitement for the winter season is amplifying for backcountry enthusiasts in Northwest Montana.
“So, when we have a La Nina year typically or historically the Pacific Northwest and the northwest is favored with below average temperatures and above average precipitation,” said Johnson.
Johnson said the snow season unofficially kicks off on Saturday when they host their 14th annual Northern Rockies Snow and Avalanche Workshop.
The kickoff event takes place at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and features backcountry experts.
“We have a lot of different speakers from some wet snow research to rescue, to a near-miss that happened in the Southern Whitefish Range, a motorized near miss, so a lot of good presentations to help get the mind back into snow and avalanches.”
All proceeds from the event support avalanche forecasting and education.
Daily avalanche reports will begin in early December.
“It’s really important to know what you’re doing. It’s important to have the gear, have the knowledge and get the forecast at flatheadavalanche.org, you know it’s having the equipment and knowing how to use it, it’s definitely important for traveling in the mountains in the wintertime.”
Johnson said backcountry-goers should be checking the avalanche report daily, as conditions often change on a moment’s notice.
“Predictions are really helpful, but again we really focus on a closer more near forecast.”
Johnson said backcountry-goers can help one another by submitting public observations on the Flathead Avalanche website, providing more real-time information from various mountain ranges.
“We have a team of four people and a 1,800 square mile forecast area, so it’s really great to see when we get a lot of public observations.”
More information on the kickoff event can be found here.
