By: randosteve|Posted on: December 29, 2008|Posted in: Avalanche Safety | 40 comments

Headwall Avalanche from Webcam
Bridger Gondola webcam image of the avalanche before it was shut down.

If you aren’t afraid of the snowpack yet…maybe now you will be.  And if you haven’t hugged your neighborhood ski patroller recently, you should…because it’s unbelievable that no one was seriously injured in this recent event.

This morning, a large avalanche released from the Headwall, buried ski patrollers and damaged sections of the Bridger Restaurant at the top of the Bridger Gondola.  After one round of avalanche control work, ski patrol was in the process of a second round of avalanche reduction in the Headwall area, and an area known as the “White Spider”, when a secondary slide occurred, releasing nearly 80% of the snow in the hike-to area.  Debris ran past the restaurant and buried windows on the second floor of the building, breaking some and pouring snow into the Couloir and Cornice restaurants.   Though multiple ski patrollers were caught in the slide, all were recovered without injury.