Selkirk Mountains

Most slopes are generally safe from avalanches. While we cannot rule out every slope as “totally” free from avalanche hazards, you may encounter an isolated area where the snowpack could behave differently. If you choose to travel in steeper and/ or more complex terrain, use safe travel protocol and recognize that even a small avalanche that knocks you over and sends you for a tumble can be bad in the wrong terrain.

Since we started regular forecasting on December 5, 2025, we have listed the Persistent Slab avalanche in the forecast - in one way, shape, or form. 45 days later, we have decided to remove the Persistent Slab avalanche problem in our Selkirk, West Cabinet, and Silver Valley-Bitterroot zones. 

The various weak layers we have been tracking so far this season, numerous faceted rain crusts and the New Year surface hoar, are now buried 2 to 3+ feet deep below a stout slab. Despite the brief uptick in natural activity 7 days ago from rapid warming and light rain, these weak concerns have been less reactive overall. Now that the warm up is over and we are stuck in a cold, quiet weather regime, those layers have become more stubborn to fail, or at least dormant without a major weather event. Throw in a snowpack capping surface crust and this adds more reinforcement to the stubborn slab and makes it difficult to impact deeply buried weak layers.

Until we receive a notable new snow load or rain event to the snowpack, avalanche conditions will not change all that much. Firm and refrozen surfaces may not make for the most pleasant riding experience, but it allows us to travel in more terrain with a bit less worry. As you move through the mountains, expect anywhere from a breakable to supportive crust all the way to tippy top elevations. If you migrate toward steeper, more complex terrain, pay attention to how the snow surface changes and factor the “what-if” scenario.

 The few places where you could provoke a failure in one of our very stubborn weak snow layers would be where the slab above is shallow and the surface either has no crust or the crust is thin enough that you can easily break through. Recent observations indicate that the bridging surface crust is beginning to break down on north facing aspects. A machine trenching into the snowpack - especially around exposed rocks or below cliffs - could add slightly more stress and influence to weaker snow layers better than a human. Depending on how connected slopes are where the failure occurs could dictate potential avalanche size.

It may look and feel like early spring, but the snowpack still has a bit more complexity to it than a typical spring snowpack. The limited solar input due to the low angle of the January sun and the prolonged cold are contributing to incremental faceting in the upper snowpack that will come into play whenever we get a new load of precipitation. Make sure to keep your avalanche brain engaged and continue to use good travel habits. If you get out and about, please consider dropping us an observation HERE or through the AvyApp. Something as simple as describing the weather and surface conditions goes a long way to help our forecast products and your local avalanche community. We have received some very helpful public observations recently, and we look forward to more.

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IPAC is now on the Avy app! View, submit, and share observations on the go using the AvyApp. Your backcountry observations are critical for building our avalanche forecasts. Avy provides a centralized location for core trip planning and you can view streamlined, up-to-date avalanche and weather forecasts for your selected zone, using offline caching. Download Avy today - App Store and Google Play.