Lawinenlagebericht

Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sun
Hochgebirge
1 · Gering
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

Large avalanches are unlikely, but you could trigger small avalanches on steep slopes with fresh wind-drifted snow. Loose snow avalanches may release on very steep slopes receiving prolonged direct sun. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    This zone picked up 1-3" of snow on Wednesday afternoon. Gusty NW, N, and NE wind formed thin wind slabs in exposed terrain. Be on the lookout for thin wind slabs near or just below ridgelines and on the sides of cross-loaded gullies. Many of them will rest on slick crusts. This means they may be easy to trigger, break wider than expected, and will pick up speed quickly as they travel downslope. 

    Pay attention to how the snow feels under your skis or boards. If the snow surface suddenly stiffens or becomes more supportable, you've found a wind slab. Cracks shooting out in front of your skis or boards are a red flag warning you to be cautious. Surface clues like dunes or ripples can tell you the wind has been at work. 

    ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION:Sunshine and warming temperatures today could increase the likelihood wet slides. This zone received less snow this past week, but the 1-3" of recent snow could become unglued from slick crusts.

    (3/8/2022) New snow drifting along the Salt Bowns Rd in the Soldier Mtns. 

Avalanche Discussion

Conditions aren't scary out there, or particularly dangerous, but there are enough smaller problems that you need to keep your head on a swivel. If I had one word to describe the avalanche conditions, I wouldn't use LOW or MODERATE...I'd use "annoying". 

Normally, wind slabs and wet slides are two of the more predictable avalanche problems we deal with. The elephants in the room are persistent weak layers that we've formed during the past two months of dry weather—facets, crusts + facets, and surface hoar. We've seen a few avalanches where wind slabs have broken thicker and wider than expected (example) when they fail on these weak layers. In the Banner Summit zone, the wet storm at the very end of February triggered a cycle of persistent slab avalanches breaking on facets, crusts, and surface hoar. 

The prolonged dry spell produced several weak layers, but the wind, sun, and warm temps also produced a high degree of variability. Persistent weak layers + variability leads = unpredictability. When conditions are more unpredictable, it leads to a degree of uncertainty that makes forecasters unhappy. We don't like rolling the dice. Despite the MODERATE danger and relatively low likelihood of triggering a large avalanche, many avalanche professionals remain wary of some slopes. Those of us at the avalanche center are tending to avoid steep slopes at upper elevations that are shaded (more likely to harbor weak layers) and wind loaded (adding more load to the weak layers).  

Catch up on what happened this past week in Ethan's latest Weekend Update.

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