Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The possibility for skiers and riders to trigger avalanches continues at the mid and upper elevations. Weak snow layers are widespread and well preserved. Snowpack evaluation can be helpful to identifying the layers of concern, however predicting failure is difficult as the snow may stable in one spot but thin/weak spots may exist mid slope. The near miss that occurred on Friday in the Tetons is reflective of the current avalanche danger and similar events are even more likely in the Southwest Trails region where the snowpack is weaker. (see observation page for avalanche event details).

Mostly dry and cold conditions have been slowly making it less likely to trigger avalanches. The weak layers of concern, mainly focused on faceted snow that was covered on or before the 26th of November are widespread and avalanche activity earlier in December was also widespread. Although the sensitivity of these slabs have decreased, the problem is that areas of instability persist. Rocky areas that receive continued wind loading should be avoided but any steep slope could have weak points that if impacted, could result in large avalanches. Under this scenario, a few tracks do not indicate stability as they may have simply not hit the weak button. Practice safe travel techniques such as only exposing one person at a time and take a look into the snow to identify the presence of weak layers.