Togwotee Pass

Avalanches are unlikely in the majority of terrain today. Several inches of recent snow and wind have formed isolated pockets of unstable wind slab less than a foot deep in the upper elevations. Cracking in the snow around your skis means that you have found one of these pockets. Use caution in terrain where getting knocked off your feet could have high consequences.

A prolonged period of mostly dry weather beginning on January 10th has created generally stable conditions across the region. Only 4-6 inches of snow has been recorded since then. This snow has been recently redistributed by periods of strong westerly winds where shallow slabs have formed in isolated terrain features. Pockets of unstable wind slab will be small and are getting harder to trigger, but may hold the potential to knock a rider off their feet. Therefore, it is worth keeping your guard up above cliffs or gullies where a small slide could be dangerous.

Avalanches involving weak snow near the base of the snowpack have become very unlikely due to an extended dry period and are not a current concern in the Togwotee region. The last reported avalanche involving faceted snow at the ground occurred over a month ago on December 31st, 2025. As a result, the persistent slab problem has been removed from the problem list. While it is not difficult to find poor snowpack structure around Togwotee, the right combination of slab, weak layer, and loading characteristics is not present at the moment in the majority of terrain. This will change once significant snowfall returns to the region, and it is likely that this avalanche problem will be a concern again at some point this season. Persistent slabs are difficult to predict and there is always the possibility of an outlier event in the right piece of terrain. This uncertainty makes it important to remain vigilant and thoroughly assess the snowpack and terrain before committing to a consequential slope.

Please consider submitting an observation here if you are out in the mountains. Observations help us make a better avalanche forecast. Thank you!