Flathead Avalanche ‘Friends Fest’ to Raise Funds for Snow Safety

The Flathead Avalanche Center’s (FAC) nonprofit partner is throwing a four-day party to raise awareness about snow safety while also raising the roof — as well as money — to ensure community avalanche education in the region can continue to keep pace with the growing demand for backcountry winter recreation.

The Flathead Avalanche Friends Fest is a four-day festival featuring mini-clinics, a keynote speaker, après activities, and a raffle. It runs Feb. 8-11 with events slated to take place throughout the Flathead Valley, where the community avalanche center is in its ninth season issuing daily forecasts as one of just 10 Type 1 avalanche centers in the U.S. 

Last year, FAC reported a downturn in accidents and near-misses in the region while significantly expanding its reach, reporting an uptick in daily forecasts, observations, education, digital outreach, products, staffing, and support.

With that positive correlation in mind, the FAC and its nonprofit partner Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center (FOFAC) are hoping to build on the momentum and continue to expand the community avalanche center’s suite of education and outreach offerings.

In the past five years, FAC has also installed three weather stations through its partnership with FOFAC, including one on Mount Aeneas in the Swan Range in 2019, and another on Tunnel Ridge in the Flathead Range in 2020. Most recently, FOFAC installed a new weather station last fall on Link Mountain in the Whitefish Range to fill a data gap that will help produce more accurate forecasts.

With the expanded network of forecasting instruments comes the need for more repairs, according to Clare Menzel, FOFAC’s communications manager. Those growing needs, coupled with a desire to expand the public’s access to education and outreach, has prompted FOFAC to host its first midwinter fundraising event.

“We haven’t done a midwinter event like this before, so we’re hoping this can make a big impact by connecting with the community when they’re already really engaged with snow and the mountains,” Menzel said. “We have an ambitious $15,000 fundraising goal, driven by weather station repairs, the new website project, and an expanding education program. As we approach our 10th year of operations, meeting this goal will make all the difference in the future of snow safety in Northwest Montana.”

The event’s highlights include a keynote address from LeeAnn Allegretto, who has been the avalanche and backcountry program manager for more than a decade at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Missoula. With 17 years of experience as an NWS meteorologist, Allegretto has also worked in Alaska and Maine. Prior to her Feb. 10 keynote, Allegretto will also host a “State of the Snowpack” session at the beginning of the evening.

Neither the festival nor FAC’s growth would be possible without its nonprofit partner in FOFAC, as well as its relationships with the Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park and Whitefish Mountain Resort.

The purpose of the Flathead Avalanche Center is to prevent the loss of human life, limb, and property by human and naturally occurring avalanches through information and education to the community, and the workshop is designed to complement the center’s year-round efforts.

The Flathead Avalanche Center operates as a Type 1 Avalanche Center with four full-time forecast staff and a professional observer program. Currently, its resources allow for daily avalanche forecasts for three geographic regions encompassing 1 million acres: the Swan Range, the Whitefish Range and the Flathead Range and Glacier National Park.

For more information, visit flatheadavalanche.org/friends-fest.

Flathead Avalanche Friends Fest Schedule:

What: Slingin’ Swag at the Stube
When: Feb.8, après
Where: Bierstube, Whitefish Mountain Resort

What: Pop-Up Beacon Park
When: Feb. 9, 5-7 p.m.
Where: Glacier Institute, Columbia Falls

What: Weather Topics with Keynote Speaker LeeAnn Allegretto, NWS Avalanche and Backcountry Program Manager
When: Feb. 10, 6 p.m.
Where: Lark Skola, Whitefish (above Loula’s)

What: Hot Dog Day with Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol
When: Feb. 11, all day
Where: Whitefish Mountain Resort, top of Flower Point

What: Après and Big-A$$ Raffle
When: Feb. 11, 4-8 p.m.
Where: Tap House, with Bitter Root Brewing