Skier caught and buried at Bridger

On December 15th, 2024, at 12:09 p.m., a skier in open terrain was caught and buried by an avalanche in the Papa Bear region below Bridger Gully. The skier was buried just below the snow surface and was able to punch a hole up through the top of the snow. The skier's partner and other members of the skiing public were able to extricate the uninjured skier quickly. This as a good reminder to ski and ride with a partner, even in the ski area, in deep snow conditions.

Notes from forecaster discussion with patrol:

Slide was 8 inches deep, 450 feet wide, and broke within the storm snow 2 inches above the new snow/old snow interface. Exact trigger unknown.

The Alpine weather station received 2.5" snow = 0.2" SWE from 2200 on 12/14 to 0300 on 12/15, then intense snowfall from 0700 to 1200 added 7" and 1"SWE for a storm total of 9.5"=1.2"SWE over 14 hours as of noon.