Friends of GNFAC

10th Annual SLEDFEST in Cooke City, Montana! Join us May 15th and 16th to raise money for @mtavalanche and end the season with a bang! One of our favorite weekends with giveaways, show & shine, games, prizes, big air, and plenty of backcountry spring riding. #mtnproven #ridefox

Today is the final day of Give Big Gallatin Valley, and we’re encouraging our community to show up strong for the organizations that make climbing, learning, and access in Hyalite possible. Bozeman Ice Fest is proud to support and spotlight three incredible nonprofits this year: 1. Montana Mountaineering Association (@montanamountaineering ) The parent nonprofit of BIF, MMA is raising funds to support the Junior Mountaineering Team, Touch the Sky youth climbing programs, and their pay-what-you-can model that ensures access for all. 2. Friends of Hyalite (@hyalitecanyon ) For 16 years, FOH has helped keep the Hyalite road plowed in the winter, maintained trails, organized cleanups, and funded summer stewards. They are a core part of what makes our canyon so accessible year-round. 3. Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center (@mtavalanche ) A trusted resource for backcountry safety and avalanche education, GNFAC provides critical information to help keep our community safe in the mountains. Bozeman Ice Fest is matching up to $2500 dollars in donations for both Friends of Hyalite and GNFAC! There is still time to support these amazing organizations. Head to the links in our story to donate and make your impact before Give Big ends tonight. Every contribution makes a difference! #bozemanicefest #givebiggv #friendsofhyalite #gnfac #montanamountaineering

May 1 - 4, 2026 Avalanche Conditions Update: This weekend the main avalanche concern is wet loose avalanches. These will be more likely for a person to trigger, or occur naturally, during warmer parts of the day and on slopes that receive direct sun. If you intend to travel on or below steep slopes, start early in the day and travel when the surface is still frozen or dry. Even a small wet loose slide can pack a large punch, so plan your route carefully and continuously evaluate the snowpack throughout the day and across different aspects and elevations. Be alert for isolated wind slabs along the highest ridgelines if you are in terrain where a small slide knocking you off your feet or snowmobile would have high consequences, like above cliffs or on long steep slopes. Go to mtvalanche.com for the full update. This is our final spring avalanche bulletin for the season. Thank you all for your support throughout the season and beyond. Have a great spring and summer, and stay safe! Photo: Wet loose avalanche in Beehive Basin, N. Madison Range on or before 4/18/26.

🌟 GIVE BIG IS LIVE! 🌟 Now’s the time to support the organizations that make our climbing community and Hyalite adventures possible all year long! While the Bozeman Ice Fest isn’t officially part of Give Big, we’re stepping up to support and amplify three nonprofits doing the real work on the ground: 1️⃣ @montanamountaineering - Our parent nonprofit, MMA is raising funds to support: • The Junior Mountaineering Team (JMT) • Touch the Sky youth climbing programs • A pay-what-you-can model that keeps climbing accessible 2️⃣ @hyalitecanyon (Friends of Hyalite) - Celebrating 16 years of stewardship! FOH funds: • Winter road plowing for canyon access • Cleanups, signage, & trail maintenance • The Hyalite summer steward and campground hosts 🎉 BIF is matching the first $2,500 in donations! 3️⃣ @mtavalanche (GNFAC) - Keeping us safe in the backcountry with forecasts and education. ✨ We’re matching $2,500 in donations here too! 💙 These orgs give so much to our community. Let’s give back. #bozemanicefest #givebiggv #friendsofhyalite #gnfac #montanamountaineering

Give Big is TOMORROW! If you want it to snow more next year, we’ve heard that donating to your local avalanche center will put in a good word with the snow gods… ❄️ Besides making it snow, your support goes toward offering free and donation based avalanche education, maintaining weather stations, and avalanche center operations in the greater Gallatin community. @bozemanicefest is generously matching $2500 of donations— let’s make it count! Donate at /organizations/friends-of-gnfac !

What? 10th Annual SLEDFEST 😎 Where? Cooke City, Montana 🇺🇸 When? May 15th & 16th 2026 ☀️ 🔗 Link in bio for more info OR visit the “Cooke City - Spring Sled Fest 2026” Facebook page! #MTNproven #ridefox

New Spring Conditions Update out on the website for the week of April 27-May 1: Skiers and riders can find excellent snow conditions in the mountains, especially on high elevation northerly aspects that remain shadier and cooler, but keep the avalanche radar on and remember the basics: retreat to lower-angle terrain if you observe signs of instability, travel with a partner, follow safe travel practices, and carry a beacon, shovel, and probe. For the first half of the week, while temperatures remain below freezing and clouds obscure the sun, the primary avalanche concern is isolated slabs of wind-drifted snow at high elevations and near ridgelines. If the wind picks up, so will the danger of wind slab avalanches. The weather shifts on Thursday. Temperatures will be above freezing temperatures and skies will be sunny. The surface snow getting wet for the first time will destabilize and avalanche naturally. And the surface conditions won’t be as fun for skiing and riding. Choose your day and your timing wisely. 📸Wind slab avalanche in the Beehive area in the Northern Madison Range on Friday

This season despite low snow Friends of GNFAC reached over 3,000 students! On May 1-2, Friends of GNFAC is participating in Give Big Gallatin Valley-/organizations/friends-of-gnfac. Your support goes toward offering free and donation based avalanche education, maintaining weather stations, and avalanche center operations in the greater Gallatin community. Thank you to @bozemanicefest for generously matching $2500 in donations— let’s make it count!

The Bridger Range received 2” of snow water, equivalent (SWE) overnight equally nearly 20 inches of snow. Expect dangerous avalanche conditions in steep terrain and be cautious about traveling below. Ian’s bulletin from Monday covers conditions well. Read it again before heading out!

April 20-23, 2026 - General Spring Avalanche Info: Between now (Monday morning) and Friday, there will be a dramatic shift in the weather (from warm and sunny to cooler and snowy). This will lead to big changes in the types of avalanche problems you may encounter and the amount of avalanche hazard. Today and Tuesday, wet loose avalanches will be the primary concern. Wednesday will be a transition day as the next storm moves in. By Thursday morning, the new snow will be piling up and temperatures will be more wintery. It’ll be a nice opportunity to get in a little more powder riding, but be ready to bring you avalanche A-game. Read the full bulletin at mtavalanche.com for more specifics.

April 17-19, 2026 General Spring Avalanche Info: Skiers and riders can easily trigger avalanches that involve the recent snow and could be large enough to bury or injure a person. The recent heavy snowfall creates a variety of avalanche problems that you might encounter this weekend. If you plan to travel on or underneath steep slopes, carefully assess the stability of the new snow and the potential for natural or human-triggered avalanches. The type of avalanche problems, and snow stability, will change through the weekend and through each day. Today the primary concerns will be wind slab, storm slab and dry loose avalanches. Tomorrow and Sunday, wet loose avalanches, or possibly wet slabs, will become active during the warmer part of the day. Yesterday skiers at Bridger Bowl triggered slabs and dry loose slides of the new snow, and saw cracking indicating instability (photo). Anticipate similar activity today. Through the weekend, you should keep an eye out for signs of instability that indicate the recent snow is unstable. These can range from cracking across the snow surface in dry snow indicating winds slabs are unstable, to rollerballs or a moist snow surface indicating wet avalanches are becoming likely. Anticipate increasing potential for natural and easily triggered wet snow avalanches through the day, especially on slopes that receive direct sunshine. This might happen in a few places today, but will likely happen most places tomorrow and Sunday.

4/13: We issued our final daily forecast for the season yesterday, BUT there is snow coming this week and we are still updating general avalanche information twice per week, on Mondays and Fridays, through April (that means there’s a fresh one today). Continue to follow along at for the most up-to-date information AND submit your observations to share avalanche information and support your backcountry communities. Enjoy the snow this week and stay safe out there!