Lawinenlagebericht

Silver Valley & Bitterroot Mountains

Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Wed
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

At elevations above 6,000' small windslab avalanches will be easily triggered in terrain steeper than 35 degrees. Southeasterly winds and fresh snow have created small but touchy slabs on north and westerly facing terrain. Although these slabs may not be big enough to bury you, they will certainly take you for a ride. Keep this in mind today and avoid stepping into high-consequence terrain at upper elevations.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–1.5

    Two small storms have graced the area since Sunday night with moderate winds out of the south and southeast. This has created slabs at upper elevations that will be easily triggered by humans in steep terrain. My best guess  on size would be around D 1.5 if triggered. Just big enough to beat you up in steep and cliff laden terrain. Yesterday we observed slabs that cracked easily underfoot under wind lips and adjacent to ridgelines as we crested the upper edge of treeline. The evidence was enough to steer us away from steep and consequential terrain on those aspects. Don't let a moderate rating lure you into going after the big objective today, there is lot's of good snow and safe terrain out there where avalanches can be avoided.

Avalanche Discussion

On Monday Issy Davis and I toured out to Willow and Stevens to get a good look at upper elevations in the Silver Valley. As we crested treeline it was pretty obvious that the small dose of fresh snow combined with the southeasterly wind's were deserving of more respect than I was anticipating for the day. After assessing the conditions we opted for terrain that wasn't directly exposed to loading from the wind, we found good skiing and a stable snowpack. Stability test's did not produce any concerning results and revealed a right side up snowpack that is bonded well with our "Christmas Crust" layer. There was a very thin melt-freeze crust about 3" under the surface that was bonding poorly with the new snow that is worth keeping an eye on as we add more snow to the pack. This may be an issue moving forward, but was not concerning yesterday outside of wind loaded terrain.

Moving forward into the week it looks like we will have a dry and mild conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday before a wet and very warm system  moves into the area on Thursday. The National Weather Service is predicting the rain/snow line to move up the hill to elevation's as high as 6,500' on Thursday/Friday. So, keep that on your mind if you plan to get out later in the week and anticipate the potential rise in hazard that is always associated with rapid changes in temperature and high elevation rain.

 

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