Lawinenlagebericht

Sawtooth & Western Smoky Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Mon
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 6 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Moderate winds are transporting the new snowfall, building wind drifts in upper elevation terrain. These will become larger as the day progresses. There's a good chance that your weight will trigger one of these slabs—avoid slopes where you find drifted or pillowed snow. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    When the storm tapers off around midday, 4-6 inches of new snow will likely have accumulated since yesterday morning. This new snow has been blown around by winds from a variety of directions—from the S, SE, SW, and W. As a result, expect to find fresh wind drifts on a variety of aspects at higher elevations and in open, wind-exposed terrain. What's more, some of these wind drifts will be forming on weak, faceted snow surfaces that formed during the recent dry weather, and could be easily triggered by your weight. A skier on Galena Summit yesterday remotely triggered a small wind slab avalanche that released on this touchy old snow surface. These wind slabs will continue to build through the day, and triggering one may produce an avalanche large enough to take you for a ride. 

    After a long period of relatively stable conditions, it's time to get our heads back in the game. Today will be a good day to scale back your terrain choices by planning to avoid steep, upper elevation, wind-exposed terrain.

Avalanche Discussion

Today is the first day in over a month that we have CONSIDERABLE danger in any part of the forecast area. Moderate amounts of new snow, combined with wind, are creating dangerous avalanche conditions—especially in the southeastern portion of the forecast area. I think many of us are ready for some late season powder, but are you ready to get off the bench and be thrown back into the avalanche game? If you're saying "put me in coach", read on.

One of the most important questions to ask when it finally snows after a prolonged dry spell is "what is the snow falling on?" Our current snowpack surface runs the full gamut, but weak surfaces are common—especially on shadier aspects facing NE-N-NW. Last weekend's snowfall has since turned to sugary, near-surface facets. These are now sitting on firm bed surfaces on many slopes or have been added to a full-depth weak snowpack in shallow areas. We have plenty of weak snow, the only missing ingredient for avalanche conditions being a slab. New and windblown snow from the current storm are filling in this blank in our avalanche recipe, and dangerous avalanche conditions are building at upper elevations.

A shifting mindset will be critical to adjust to the changing conditions. Over the past few weeks, we've been able to ski and ride in steep terrain with relatively little risk. That's officially changed. Conditions have become dangerous in many portions of our forecast area, and it will be a good day to start stepping back from the terrain you may have been recreating in. 

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