Cooke city? Why is it considered so dangerous?
- Thread starter bbrunick
- Start date
Cooke is awesome! if you don't have beacons, probe, Avy pack (Which one would hope you never ride without) you can rent them all in town. Lot's of "known" hills that slide, but even the ones that "never" do, can in the right conditions, no matter where you ride. Ride smart, learn from the locals, post pics!
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Bacon
Well-known member
There are places right off the trail that can kill you. You need to talk to the locals in town and they will tell you most of the places to avoid. That being said, I have riden Cooke for many years, since 97 and have not been in an avalanche. I have seen many slides and from experience know the places to avoid. Be careful and if it looks wrong, stay off. Crown butte, sheep mountain, Henderson are some that will slide. Watch for wind loading and stay away. Just cause someone else is climbing it, doesn't mean it won't let go.
Cooke City is top notch riding.....right now it needs some snow though. It is like the snowies but Cooke is steep, deep, and fun. Seriously don't ride and climb without some knowledge or someone who knows what and where they are doing. Might keep you from finding out why Cooke is so dangerous to the uniformed and unexperienced riders.
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whitee
Well-known member
There are a lot of very steep windloaded slopes that people have easy access to It is very easy to spot where there is or will be a slide ALL THE TREES ARE GONE. I ride there almost every weekend and see way to many people pushing thier luck on a daily basis just ask when your there and read the avalanche report that all the businesses post in the stores Dont get me wrong there are plent of hills you can safely climb on just look around if there is a huge cornice above you stay off of it If your climbing a chute with no trees in it its because it avalanches and takes them out be safe ask for help and have beacon probe shovel ect
If you are going in Jan, i would stay off of what Bacon said. I was there over turkey weekend and the riding was pretty good. The snowpack is not bad but its sitting on layer of sugar snow basically right on the surface. If we all of a sudden get a load of snow its going to be worse. Not sure what your MTN experience is but just like everywhere else you can have lots of fun in cooke with out climbing the big steep stuff. The one side if Crown Butte is know to slide, its just a matter of when. And its got a big run off were some people have died just watching there friends climb. And crown butte is the first big hill you see at the end of the trail on daisy pass...so everyone just came off a 5 miles trail ride and its opens up and theirs crown butte....Just be smart. Get a Map and Ask Locals. LSB and Bearclawbob are good ones to ask off of snowest. LSB works @ the Alpine Motel and Bearclawbob has the Super 8, and he rents all the avy equipment you will need.
Keep checking in the Montana Section for updates on snow conditions and...here
http://www.mtavalanche.com/current
Keep checking in the Montana Section for updates on snow conditions and...here
http://www.mtavalanche.com/current
Thanks again for the advice. We are heading out with Mom's Motorsports the second week in January and will be staying at the Super 8. Anyone else heading on this trip or around that week? We have two in our group and only have 3 days of total mountain riding experience. We have all the right gear (I have an avy bag), have taken an avalanche course, and are trying to read as much as possible. Any good maps that highlight some of the riding areas listed above? Would love to avoid them if possible.
Appreciate the input.
Appreciate the input.
the reason people say its dangerous is a lot of the biggest most wind loaded open hills are sitting right by trails and are way to easy to get to.. they call your name, especially if you have never been to big open hills before. its like they are calling to be marked on!
stop and think before you blast up things. and JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE TRACKS DOESNT MAKE IT SAFE!! the snowpack this year is really poor and the layers are stacking up bad on top of terrible, so even smaller stuff is a hazard this year, dont even think of the big hills, not worth your life! find some meadows and gentle trees and have some fun!
stop and think before you blast up things. and JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE TRACKS DOESNT MAKE IT SAFE!! the snowpack this year is really poor and the layers are stacking up bad on top of terrible, so even smaller stuff is a hazard this year, dont even think of the big hills, not worth your life! find some meadows and gentle trees and have some fun!
when you ride there, and it is not obvious, why cooke is avalanche prone. You need to get some more avy education.
http://www.cookecitychamber.org/pdf/snowmobile_trails.pdf
Also if you just use google and the terrain map and zoom in you can see. Crown Butte,Sheep mountain,Henderson mountain. All those are labeled on there the riding area starts just north of town a couple miles. Something you might wanna look at. I would look into getting someone to take you on a guide for a day or half day if none of your group have been there, and i don't know how much mtn riding xp you have.
Also if you just use google and the terrain map and zoom in you can see. Crown Butte,Sheep mountain,Henderson mountain. All those are labeled on there the riding area starts just north of town a couple miles. Something you might wanna look at. I would look into getting someone to take you on a guide for a day or half day if none of your group have been there, and i don't know how much mtn riding xp you have.
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Rev Kev
Well-known member
I will be heading out on that trip with Mom's as well, I assist Rick in Driving the Semi on the trips I go on. You will be filled in on the ride out, as others have mentioned, the areas to avoid, Sheep, Crown Butte, Scotch Bonnet, and a few other areas to avoid. If your first trip with Mom's, you will have a blast.
Great place to ride, I also think the problem is the big pulls are just sitting right there next to the trails, ooooo come climb me and i'll swat ya like a fly. just need to be very aware and forget the "tracks there already deal" also watch small between the trees chutes off the trail, seen a few of them let go. You also get a lot of non regular mountain riders who really don't know whats bad and whats safe to climb so they go where they should not.More so than other areas we travel to, not bashing flatlanders at all just saying its a popular place to visit from all over.
There is TONS of safe challanging riding at cooke as well as miles of play areas. Just a very nice fun place to go. We love it !!
There is TONS of safe challanging riding at cooke as well as miles of play areas. Just a very nice fun place to go. We love it !!
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MarleneeSteven
Well-known member
I've made a simple, brief illustration on GoogleEarth that attempts to show the most 'avalanche-prone' areas, as well as some that are safer. Go to my website and scroll down to maps. There, you can download the google earth kml file. It will save to your computer and you can open it with GoogleEarth. Pretty handy bit of learning.
As a disclaimer, almost any hill CAN slide, so be safe. I've only marked the ones that are the 'worst'. Also, the wilderness boundary is approximate. Refer to the USFS markers and maps, as they are correct.
As a disclaimer, almost any hill CAN slide, so be safe. I've only marked the ones that are the 'worst'. Also, the wilderness boundary is approximate. Refer to the USFS markers and maps, as they are correct.
Another big reason that nobody has mentioned is the the fact that it sometimes gets cold and stays cold through what may be several storms, there is very little bonding taking place between the layers, or setting up of what has already fallen.
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Clarke673
Somewhere between too dumb to quit and flat earth
kind of a rule of thumb in cooke. Everything slides if there aren't tree's on it. I caused the backside of crown butte to slide about this time last year when i did a little drop. If there are little tiny mangled trees sticking out or obvios avalanch chutes, it is probubly a sign. Stay on the hills that get more sun and try to stay off things with wind loads. IMO, the best riding is in the trees! There are some awsome spots that ALWAYS have fresh snow, you just got to find them.
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MarleneeSteven
Well-known member
To answer your question, I think the reason that it's regarded as being so dangerous has several components. First, it is a very well known area, always in the top ten, so people remember it. Last, it seems like we lose a snowmobiler or skier each year, give or take, and have for a while.
So why do we lose people to avalanches in Cooke? In my opinion, the conditions are perfect for the creation of weak layers as described above, and accessing avalanche prone areas is quite popular with some riders that sled in Cooke.
For years Cooke has been famous for hill climbing, dating back before revelstoke became popular. If you've been to Cooke, I'm sure you can understand how inviting and "perfect" some of the hills look. Especially the chutes on the south side of Lulu pass. They are very hard to resist. Compound that with the fact that some people don't know the danger (they ALWAYS SLIDE) with the people that can't resist. It's a bad situation. I'll admit, I've been unable to resist some times. They are so perfect-looking. And often, they are untracked.
It would be interesting to see a statistic of which chutes people have been caught in an avalanche. I don't have any factual backup, but I'd guess that 90%+ of the fatalities occur on the lulu chutes, crown butte or scotch bonnet.
I don't know of this helps you or not. However, don't let this scare you away from Cooke. If you know and understand the dangers and behave in a safe manner with proper equipment and training, Cooke can be the experience of a lifetime. There are thousands of acres of meadows and boon docking. You can still have an epic time without needing to get yourself into a possible avalanche situation.
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.328509,-104.853586
So why do we lose people to avalanches in Cooke? In my opinion, the conditions are perfect for the creation of weak layers as described above, and accessing avalanche prone areas is quite popular with some riders that sled in Cooke.
For years Cooke has been famous for hill climbing, dating back before revelstoke became popular. If you've been to Cooke, I'm sure you can understand how inviting and "perfect" some of the hills look. Especially the chutes on the south side of Lulu pass. They are very hard to resist. Compound that with the fact that some people don't know the danger (they ALWAYS SLIDE) with the people that can't resist. It's a bad situation. I'll admit, I've been unable to resist some times. They are so perfect-looking. And often, they are untracked.
It would be interesting to see a statistic of which chutes people have been caught in an avalanche. I don't have any factual backup, but I'd guess that 90%+ of the fatalities occur on the lulu chutes, crown butte or scotch bonnet.
I don't know of this helps you or not. However, don't let this scare you away from Cooke. If you know and understand the dangers and behave in a safe manner with proper equipment and training, Cooke can be the experience of a lifetime. There are thousands of acres of meadows and boon docking. You can still have an epic time without needing to get yourself into a possible avalanche situation.
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.328509,-104.853586
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Turbo11T
Well-known member
I agree. . . Cooke is awesome. . . lots of places to ride other than hillclimbing.
Thanks again everyone. Sounds like I will have a great trip! Will plan on finding the trees and avoiding the areas mentioned above. Thanks for the link to the map! Extremely helpful. If anyone else is in town that week and want's to show some noobies the ropes let me know.
Thanks again!
Brett
Thanks again!
Brett
4' of new snow in Cooke as of this morning, Gallatin Nat'l Forest Avalanche report advised HIGH avy danger this morning there and west Yellowstone/LionsHead area (2" fresh this morning) Base of faceted snow.
Just got the news this evening that a guy from a town 11 mi. away was killed in an avalanche today in Cooke,I knew him,sad deal, riding up there with his son and I'm sure other friends. RIP Jody.
Just got the news this evening that a guy from a town 11 mi. away was killed in an avalanche today in Cooke,I knew him,sad deal, riding up there with his son and I'm sure other friends. RIP Jody.
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