Avalanche forecast

Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
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Out of date — this forecast expired 12 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Today's abundant sunshine and warm temperatures will increase the hazard during the warmest portion of the day. Deep, hard slab avalanches could be human triggered, especially by high marking snowmachines, in areas where weak layers of faceted snow persist near the base of the snowpack. Shallow pockets of wind slab could also be human triggered in very steep terrain and in cliff areas.

Avalanche problems

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    3

    Dangerous hard slabs up to eight feet in depth could be triggered on steep slopes and will become more sensitive to human triggers as temperatures increase. These dangerous slabs could be triggered on slopes that have been crossed multiple times by other riders or skiers. These killer slab avalanches are more likely to release when more than one sled is on a steep slope at one time. If a member of your party gets stuck on a suspect slope its best to keep all other sleds off of and out of the run out zone of that slope until that person gets off of the slope.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Pockets of surface slab one to two feet in depth could be triggered by backcountry travelers who venture onto very steep slopes and into cliff areas. These slabs have the potential to step down and trigger dangerous deep slab avalanches in areas with poor snowpack structure and will also become more sensitive to human triggers as temperatures increase.

Avalanche Discussion

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Dry conditions with mostly clear skies will prevail through Sunday night before another fast moving storm system brings widespread light snowfall to the mountains on Monday. Temperatures will drop into the teens tonight and rise into the 30s and 40s on Sunday. Northwest winds will back towards the west at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour with higher gusts. The general avalanche hazard is expected to remain MODERATE in the Teton area and CONSIDERABLE in the Togwotee Pass/Continental Divide and Greys River/Southwest Trails areas where some potential for humans to trigger deep hard slabs persist in areas with poor snowpack structure. Surface slabs formed by northwest winds could be human triggered at the higher elevations in all of these forecast areas. These surface slabs could be up to two feet in depth.

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