Tetons

Deep slab instabilities near the ground and a strengthening of the snow at the surface have combined to create VERY DANGEROUS conditions. This scenario is allowing backcountry travelers to venture onto deep unstable slabs until a trigger point is reached and the slab releases. On Saturday a snowboarder was killed near Ski Lake. On Sunday in separate avalanche incidents in the Salt River Range one snowmobiler was killed and another compeltely buried and recovered with injuries. On Monday two deep slabs were triggered by skiers in separate incidents south of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. In these and several other recently reported close calls the victims were not the first skier or rider to cross these dangerous slabs.