Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

You're most likely to trigger avalanches as you climb high in the Soldier Mountains or in the mountains above the South Fk of the Boise River. Before heading to these snowier parts of the zone, refer to the Sawtooth and W Smoky Mtns Forecast. Most of this zone lacks enough snow for significant avalanche problems. Travel in the mountains surrounding the Wood River Valley is difficult, and observations are limited. Daily Avalanche Forecasts with danger ratings will begin as access improves. 

Intense snowfall and wind will cause the avalanche danger to peak in many areas this morning. Expect natural avalanches. Loose, dry sluffs will be common in very steep terrain. Some slab avalanches in wind-loaded areas may be surprisingly large and wide, spanning multiple terrain features. You'll find the most dangerous avalanche conditions on shadier, middle elevation slopes where the weak layers are at their worst, and in the alpine where the storm will build fresh, sensitive wind slabs. 

Last weekend's storm produced many natural slides in our snowier northern and western mountains. Some broke hundreds of feet wide and produced debris piles large enough to bury a person. Most observed slides failed in alpine wind-loaded locations, but avalanches were also observed in sheltered middle elevation terrain. While today's storm is not quite the relative thump as our last, it's still significant, and we should expect similar results (Titus video).

Today's a great day to keep it simple. The season is young, the snowpack is shallow, observations are limited, and we have a lot to learn. What we do know, is that the snowpack is generally weak where decent skiing exists, and it's shown its ability to produce large avalanches. I recommend that you keep your terrain choices conservative today, keep your slope angles low, and be alert to overhead hazard.