[Now I Fly]

Just realized that on GAIA, Avalanche Mountain's (NW of Snoqualmie Mountain) name has been changed to Thunder Mountain. That's a new one to me. Anyone know the history this mountain's name?

[Randito]

IDK: Summit Post uses the term Avalanche Mtn, but also notes that this is not an official designation. https://www.summitpost.org/avalanche-mountain/663741 Peak Bagger also catalogs it as Avalanche Mtn https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=26012 GaiaGPS shows it as Avalanche mtn

[Now I Fly]

It's interesting that I've only seen the name change on GAIA.

[Bootpathguy]

Fine by me. Maybe it'll confuse some folks and steer them away from the other Thunder

[ScottP]

It's labeled as Thunder on Strava.

[Now I Fly]

Apparently, some changed it on OpenStreetMap a few months ago.

[Randito]

[puzzlr]

It takes a while for OpenStreetMap changes to propagate out to online sites and mobile apps. I just learned about this from Brian. I reverted the name to Avalanche today so it won't show up for a while, assuming it doesn't turn into a back-and-forth issue. The person that changed it wrote in the changeset comment that they couldn't find any historical reference for the Avalanche name. I'm providing one here and messaged him about it.

Avalanche Mountain was named by John Roper in a trip report published in the March 1995 issue of Pack & Paddle magazine. John wrote “Avalanche Mountain seemed a good name since (1) avalanches make ‘snow thunder’ or ‘rock thunder’ and (2) the Source Lake basin, just south, is famous for this treacherous phenomenon – of both the snow and rock varieties

I also pointed out these Google searches showing broad usage of the Avalanche name. It's not an official name and the Board Of Geographic Names is very slow to adopt more names so consistent local usage is important to avoid confusion during SAR missions and general communication like TRs.

• A search for Avalanche Mountain shows wide usage on all major hiking sites include WTA, SummitPost, Peakbagger, etc.
• There is already a well established peak called Thunder Mountain in the central Cascades.