AVALANCHE AWARE: As cold wind whips by, Kirk Burris, left, examines a cube of snow that avalanche specialist Stan Bones, right, holds up for display near the top of Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana. The block was cut from a "snow pit" that was dug near the West Bowl. Bones was holding a level II avalanche awareness workshop to help make backcountry adventures safer.
GRIZ IN TOWN: Bear management specialists Terence McClelland and Erik Wenum along with bear biologist Carrie Hunt tend to a 300-pound sedated grizzly bear captured in Whitefish, Montana, on Dakota Avenue. The smell of ripe fruit and garbage drew the bruin to town to fatten up for its coming winter slumber.
DEMOLITION DERBY: Sparks fly just moments before a demolition derby heat begins as driver Jamie "Big City" McLeod of McEwen, Tennessee, straps on his helmet and his buddy, Ben Upchurch, does last-minute welding work. McLeod's car had a "#8" painted on the side in the likeness of Dale Earnhardt Jr's car.
A WINDY DAY: Strong wind distorts the shape of Chantal Karakondis' umbrella as she walks in the rain on South Lincoln Street. She said she is originally from France, but has been living in Port Angeles for two years.
HURRICANE HIKE: Wes Gilligan, who lives west of Port Angeles, Washington, hikes up the steep Hurricane Ridge ski hill. The ski lifts were not running that day. Gilligan said he's been snowboarding since he was a child, and said he boards about once a week. He said he sometimes hikes to nearby Mount Angeles to snowboard down the terrain there.
EAR OF THE BEHOLDER: Hanna Lewis, 4, of Whitefish, tries to block out the cacophony of sounds produced by bagpiper Jay Johnson at the Whitefish library. Johnson was a member of the Montana Highlanders Pipe Band.
START ME UP: Tod Eisek of Port Angeles, Washington, really gets into his work while trying to fix the distributor on his wife's sport utility vehicle that was parked in front of Port Angeles High School. Eisek said the vehicle wouldn't start when his wife tried to drive away from the parking spot, so he was called in to try and repair the vehicle.
SNOW MAKER: Snow maker Laurie Fisher uses a propane torch to de-ice a snow gun before firing it up to prepare for the start of ski season. Snow makers got a little help from mother nature, too. In the distance, lights from the Big Mountain village and the city of Whitefish glow.
TIME TO FLY: Jaye Moore, Matthew Randazzo and Gary Moore, from left, watch as a juvenile eagle flies away from the container it was released from at the Dungeness Recreation Area near Sequim, Washington. The eagle was found with a broken shoulder last July and was taken to the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center for rehabilitation.
PILOT KILLED: Clallam County Sheriff's Sgt. Nick Turner and Assistant Fire Chief Ben Andrews survey the site where a single-engine aircraft crashed in Diamond Point, Washington. The pilot, Sam Evans, had trouble landing at the Diamond Point Airstrip, clipped nearby trees and crashed the plane in between two homes. He died at the scene.
MOTEL EXPLOSION: Firefighters pour water on flames at the rear of the Bremerton Motel 6 along 11th Street after a natural gas leak led to an explosion that leveled about one-quarter of the building on Aug. 18, 2015. At right, a ruptured gas meter burns fiercely in the night. A quick-thinking motel employee evacuated the building moments before the explosion. One natural gas company worker was critically injured.
GOING IN: Sequim, Washington, police officers, left, and Clallam County sheriff's deputies rush a home in the 200 block of House Road near Sequim on Monday to arrest a man holed up inside. The three-hour-long standoff ended without gunfire minutes later.
COLD WATER RESCUE: James Stack of Whitefish paddles his kayak hard toward waiting rescue personnel during a cold-water rescue at Whitefish Lake. Stack, who resides in a home along the lakeshore, heard cries for help from two people whose small boat overturned in 39-degree water around midnight. Stack set out to help them in his kayak. He was able to rescue Randall Bruckner, 30, but the second boater, Julia Cassidy, 22, drowned. Stack was later awarded a Carnegie Medal for his rescue effort.
BOARDERCROSS: Whitefish's own Brian Roche leaps ahead of Missoula's Wright Hollingsworth as they jump the last ramp before crossing the boardercross finish line.
SAFE AT FIRST: North Olympic's Brady Konopaski, left, tries to tag out Ellensburg's Junior Ledgard at first base during the first round of the Junior Babe Ruth U14 state championships at Volunteer Field in Port Angeles. Ellensburg won 13-3.