Greetings, Beacon nation! I hope at least some of you were able to follow Mike Kordenbrock’s survival guide for a rainy weekend, which was replete with reading and listening recommendations ahead of a soggy, snowy forecast that restricted access to the heart of Glacier National Park, diverted visitors into the Flathead Valley’s retail centers and transformed Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain into a winter wonderland. I’m embarrassed to admit that, while I survived, I was only moderately successful in my ambitions to deactivate my brain’s executive functions. Even though the couch tempted me with its horizontal siren song, begging me to go prospecting for loose change, a lengthy to-do list kept me upright and on the move, while Print the Supermutt, pictured below, insisted that we venture off the property and investigate the weather reports. The summit of Big Mountain was as snowy as it looked on the webcams, and the untracked ridge to Flower Point was an invigorating trek for us both.

I did, however, manage to enjoy some downtime on Saturday afternoon, when I started the novel “Ruthie Fear,” an eco-parable about the new West by the author Maxim Loskutoff, who grew up in Missoula, and also read the Flathead Avalanche Center’s annual report reflecting on the 2024-2025 backcountry season, which is the focus of today’s edition of the Daily Roundup.

For the fourth consecutive season, the Flathead Avalanche Center reported zero avalanche fatalities last winter, according to the nonprofit avalanche center’s 2024-2025 annual report reflecting on its 11th season issuing daily forecasts as one of just 10 Type 1 Avalanche Centers in the U.S.

It’s the longest period in the past 31 winters without an avalanche fatality in a region that spans more than a million acres and includes the Whitefish, Swan and Flathead mountain ranges, as well as Glacier National Park, the Flathead National Forest and Whitefish Mountain Resort.

“At the risk of jinxing that streak,” the report notes that the new safety record “eclipses two previous three-winter streaks” (2003-2005 and 2013-2015) and coincides with FAC’s shift to a full-time community avalanche center.

Since the winter of 2015, when FAC started operations, fatal accidents have declined noticeably; the region has seen only four fatalities in the past 11 winters, none involving multiple fatalities.

“Two contributions to that shift are likely increased avalanche education opportunities and the start of daily avalanche forecasts in 2016,” the report states.

Issuing its first conditions report over Thanksgiving weekend, FAC issued daily forecasts from Dec. 3 through April 7, for a total of 191 zone forecasts during that 126-day period, as well as 10 avalanche watches and warnings during the winter, all after Jan. 30.

Of the nine reports the FAC received during the 2024-2025 winter, it classified five as near-misses. Perhaps the most serious of these happened March 1, the report states, when a snowmobiler climbing the headwall in Kimmerly Basin up Canyon Creek triggered a D2.5 hard slab avalanche. Details about this incident are scarce, according to the report.

Two other near-misses occurred in the Fielding area in southern Glacier National Park. On Dec. 20, a snowboarder triggered a dangerous hard slab on the west face of Elk Mountain. Fortunately, the rider escaped before being carried into the strainer of trees below. The site of the second near-miss was an east-facing avalanche path on the peak across the drainage from Elk Mountain on Point 6996 (aka “Sub-Shields” or “False Shields”). On Feb. 8, the second rider in a party of three remotely triggered a large soft-slab avalanche above a skier below. The skier was safely to the side, however, having cut out of the planned line because they did not like how the snow felt.

FAC credits its success to community-wide partnerships, especially with Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center, the Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, and Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Now, let’s take a look at today’s top stories.

What You Can Buy for About $500,000: In Romy Caro’s latest real estate roundup, she features a historical home on Kalispell’s west side; a Columbia Falls residence with several updates; and a property tucked in a forested neighborhood in Lakeside. See all the listings here.