Boletín de aludes

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist! Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision making are going to be essential today as sustained warm temperatures (rain up to 7,000 feet), up to a foot of new snow in the upper elevations in the last 24 hours, and moderate winds have easily created sensitive storm slabs on all aspects that are failing from just the weight of a skier as reported from users.  20 MPH Southern winds have formed dense wind slabs that are also sensitive to the weight of a skier or rider. Any slope that is steep enough to slide (30 degrees +) should be approached with caution...Human triggered avalanches are likely that may range in size from small to medium (D2-D2+).

Below 7,000 feet, rain on snow may produce small to medium wet loose avalanches!

Today's Advisory is sponsored by Franklin Building Supply just South of McCall on Highway 55. Thank You For Supporting the Payette Avalanche Center!

The warming trend has arrived and warm temps will be the theme over the next couple of days. Winds ramped up into the 20 MPH range Monday and did a good job of forming wind slabs while storm slabs formed on all aspects. Buried crusts and weak layers as well as the denser, now stronger snow above have helped to elevate the avalanche danger. Monday we observed these sensitive slabs and got 2 observations from skiers of slabs that were sensitive to their weight, and one that triggered a 5-8" slab  (D2) above Pearl Lake. It is going to take a few days for the temps to come back down and for the danger to calm down also.

Prior to this warmup, we were finding pockets of buried surface hoar that were propagating in extended column tests. We believe that this is isolated, and preserved in areas that were protected and cold...well things have changed and the warm temps, and yes rain may help our stability over the long term?

Be patient, and careful in the next coming days, watch for red flags in the snowpack, carry all of your rescue gear, and keep your eyes on your partners only exposing one person ever to slopes steeper than 30 degrees. This thicker snow may force you to find steeper terrain to slide on which is exactly where you wanna be careful.

****One of our sponsors, OnXBackcountry has partnered with the Payette Avalanche Center. For each membership purchased with promo codePAYETTE20 for onX Backcountry or PAYETTESLEDS20 for onX Offroad you get a 20% discount. Plus, a 20% donation goes back to the Payette Avalanche Center upon purchase, so you’ll be directly supporting avalanche forecasts. 

Go to our Observations Page to see what others are seeing...We are always looking for more Information from snowmobilers and skiers on snow and weather conditions. These observations help our forecasts and they help other users in and outside of the community. It can be quick with or without a photo…Use the Observations link at the top of the page to submit your observations. 

Sledders and Snowbikers, please be aware that there are some areas of the Payette National Forest that are closed to motorized use, some of these closures are to protect wildlife and some are to protect other recreators.  If you are using Gaia or OnX you can download a layer called snowmobile trails that shows groomed routes and motorized closures.  Check out the Winter Travel Map below for details.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd891395.pdf