Avalanche forecast

Tetons

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

It remains possible to trigger very large avalanches. Slab depths reaching 4 feet in wind loaded terrain are possible, 2-3 feet deep in wind-sheltered terrain. Recent avalanches have propagated widely across slopes. The best way to avoid avalanche involvement is to stick to lower angled slopes to give weak snow time to stabilize.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–3

    Weak snow that formed in January sits beneath 2-3 feet of more recent snowfall, most of which fell rapidly 2-3 days ago. The weakest grains (buried surface hoar) are distributed in a spotty way from about 8,000' to about 9,500'. The layer has been most reactive on the west side and the southern portion of this zone but has produced avalanches most everywhere in all our forecast zones. Small facets, as well as the buried surface hoar, have been responsible for widely propagating and very dangerous avalanches. This drought layer from January needs more time to adjust or be buried out of reach of human-triggering.  Recent avalanches have been 2-4 feet deep, have propagated very widely across entire slopes and have been triggered from a distance.

    A very large skier triggered avalanche that occurred near Phillips Pass on 2/21/2026. The 5th rider on the slope triggered the smaller slab near the ridge that then triggered a much larger avalanche below the cliff band.

    ENE at 9,200'

     

    Photo: Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Extreme winds during the past storm formed windslabs down in typically sheltered elevations. You'll find firm to hard wind slabs everywhere above 8,000'. These hard slabs lie upon much softer snow from the start of the storm.  These slabs haven't entirely healed yet on all aspects and at higher elevations. Steep rocky areas are most suspect.

    Sun and warm temperatures may lead to wet snow driven instabilities. Keep an eye on snow surfaces and warm cliff bands overhead.  Cloudy skies may have shielded the new snow from the effects of the sun yesterday. 

    (2/26/2026)

    Phillips Pass Avalanche 2/21

    This is a good example of how wind and persistent slabs can combine to create large and dangerous avalanches.

     

Avalanche Discussion

Skiers and riders have wisely stepped back in their terrain choices during and after the last storm. We are still gathering evidence about the nature of the current persistent slab avalanche problem.  We do know some important factors.  Almost three inches of water weight was just added to this thick layer of 1mm facets , stability tests show propagation and most importantly, many recent avalanches have occurred, both natural during the storm as well as human-triggered ones just yesterday. This snowpack should have your hackles up.

Regions covered