Lawinenlagebericht

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Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Fri
Hochgebirge
1 · Gering
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

Large avalanches are unlikely today. As sun and rising temperatures heat the snow, small natural and human-triggered wet loose slides will become possible on slopes directly facing the sun. Also, you may find wind drifts sensitive to triggering on the highest exposed ridgelines in this zone. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

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

    As the sun and warmer temperatures heat up the snow, it will eventually lose cohesion and natural wet loose avalanches will become possible. This problem will be most common where more than approximately 6” of new snow fell in the last few days; those areas are few and far between in this zone.  

    Fortunately, this problem is fairly easy to manage by keeping close track of the snow surface. 

    • Is the sun directly hitting the slope you’re on or below? 
    • Is the snow getting soft and mushy?
    • Can the snow no longer support your weight if you step off your skis or sled?

    If you find yourself in this situation, it is time to move to cooler, shaded slopes, or the apres-ski.

    Recognize that you don’t need to trigger wet loose avalanches; they have a nasty habit of happening on their own (natural avalanches). Don’t spend more time than you need to below steep, rocky terrain that faces the sun and is sheltered from the wind. 

    Additional Discussion: You may be able to trigger small wind slabs in exposed, upper elevation terrain. This problem will be most pronounced on NE-N-NW facing slopes, and the slabs might be resting on a weak crust-facet combination. Look out for smooth, pillows of snow close to ridgelines, and avoid them when you find them.

Avalanche Discussion

The avalanche danger scale is a five-step scale that avalanche forecasters use to communicate information about the avalanche hazards you might encounter in the backcountry. Of course, the world doesn't fit neatly into five boxes. There are innumerable shades of gray and subtleties that our simple scale glosses over.  Today, the avalanche danger at upper elevations is mostly MODERATE; however, the type of slide that you might trigger varies significantly over space. Some details:

  • Pioneer Mountains, Little Wood drainage, and Smoky Mtns near Baldy: The southeastern corner of our forecast area got clipped by a significant stream of water since this weekend. While many of our other zones and areas picked up 6-14" of snow, this area is approaching 20" of snow and 2" of SWE (snow water equivalent). This relatively large, rapid load stressed a very weak snowpack for the first time this season; numerous large, natural persistent slab avalanches occurred. These types of slides can be triggered remotely, including from flat ground below avalanche paths—spooky! Dealing with this problem involves building wide safety margins into your travel plans.
  • Sawtooth, Smoky, White Cloud, Soldier, and Boulder Mountains: 6-14 inches of snow fell in the past few days. Light to moderate winds built small slabs in some upper elevation terrain. 
  • All areas with more than 6” of fresh snow on the ground: With the weather forecast calling for a warm and sunny day, we expect to see widespread natural wet loose avalanches involving the surface snow. I don't expect these slides to be large, but they could push you around or carry you into places you don't want to be. 

What tools or travel techniques will you use to manage these problems? The "simple" wind slab and wet loose problems present hazards that are predictable and easily avoidable. If you choose to enter avalanche terrain with this type of problem, you know what to look for and avoid. However, a persistent slab problem is an entirely different beast; you need to "close" large chunks of terrain to effectively manage this problem.

For all of the avalanche types or problems on today's menu, natural and/or human-triggered avalanches are possible—the kicker is the way you deal with the various problems is very different.

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