Avalanche forecast

Banner Summit

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

A skier was caught and carried in a small wind slab avalanche in the Soldier Mountains yesterday. While large avalanches are unlikely today, even small avalanches can have high consequences. Triggering small dry snow avalanches—wind slabs and sluffs—is possible on steep slopes.  Cloud cover and cool temperatures should keep wet snow problems at bay today, but you should be on the lookout for the problem if clouds clear earlier than forecast this afternoon.

Avalanche Discussion

There isn't a single, well-defined avalanche problem in this zone today, but there are several things to watch out for. During periods of LOW danger we find ourselves drawn to steeper, more consequential terrain where even small slides can have high consequences. Read the Forecast Discussion for any of the other zones to hear a little more about the skier-triggered avalanche that occurred yesterday in the Soldier Mountains (photos and preliminary information here). 

  • DRY SNOW - The weekend's storm brought 6-10" of snow to upper elevations in this zone and today's storm will bring a few more. At upper elevations, the wind has built slabs near terrain features that slow the wind down and force it to drop the snow it is carrying. Local professionals have reported these slabs are isolated to the highest terrain in this area. Today's snow will mask the presence of older slabs, making their distribution a bit harder to figure out. Be alert to the presence of these slabs in upper elevation terrain today. In areas sheltered from the wind, the new snow has been sluffing in very steep terrain. If you are finding great powder skiing or riding be on the lookout for this problem on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
  • WET SNOW - Cloud cover and cool temperatures will keep most wet problems at bay today. However, if there is more sun than forecast this afternoon it may be possible to trigger a wet loose slide in very steep, rocky terrain that faces the sun. If you are traveling through low elevation terrain at the end of the day and are finding wet snow without a crust be on the lookout for deeper wet snow problems. 

Be sure to catch up on what happened in Chris's latest weekend update.

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