Going-to-the-Sun Road
Plowing Photos and Videos of 2004

Snow conditions near Triple Arches & Haystack Creek - May 5

Photo by Blase Reardon, USGS, and Chris Lundy, NPS .

A portion of Triple Arches can be seen on the right hand side of this photograph, with one of Glacier's avalanche specialists checking snow conditions.


Photo by Blase Reardon, USGS, and Chris Lundy, NPS.

"Sometime last night, the glide crack in the Show Me path of Haystack Creek finally avalanched. We'd been monitoring this glide crack for nearly a month, and the recent warm temperatures and rain proved more than it could take. In a glide avalanche, meltwater percolating through the snowpack lubricates the ground surface, reducing the friction holding the slab of snow in place. Sometimes a glide crack will continue to open as the slab simply slides downhill, other times they will fail catastrophically as an avalanche. Unfortunately, there is little way to tell which it will do, but it is possible to recognize the conditions under which glide avalanches are likely.

Incidentally, there is a unique history of Haystack Creek avalanches and "Show Me Day". In 2002, Haystack Creek avalanched the evening of Show Me Day. Last spring, a similar avalanche occurred the evening of the proposed (but cancelled) Show Me day. This year, Haystack Creek once again avalanched on or near the proposed date for Show Me Day."

- Chris Lundy, NPS Avalanche Specialist