Avalanche forecast

Salmon River Mountains

Payette Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Strong southern winds will build wind slabs 12-18 inches thick above 6,500 feet on north and east-facing terrain.

Below 6,500 feet, rain and warm temperatures have created heavier, unstable snow in the upper snowpack. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Wind slabs 12-24 inches thick will likely be growing in size and sensitivity on steep slopes above 6,500 feet. Southern winds have been and will continue to load north and east-facing slopes at middle and at upper elevations. Several inches of new snow and strong southern winds will keep slopes primed for wind slab activity. 

    Pay attention to red flags like active wind-loading, shooting cracks from your skis, board, or sled, recent avalanche activity, or collapsing or whumpfing. If you're finding signs of instability, back further off steep slopes in the middle and upper elevations.

    (12/23/2025)

    North Bruin with plumes of snow from SW winds transporting recent storm snow

    Photo: Kevin Studley

Avalanche Discussion

We hope you had a safe and Merry Christmas, and will continue this trend through the new year!  This heavy, wet snow may feel upside down and could produce small to large avalanches in steep terrain. Use caution in steep terrain as the snowpack needs time to adjust to the temperature fluctuations and the added weight and may become heavy and slabby and produce small storm slab avalanches in steep sheltered terrain.

Now is the time to be cautious in your travels and focus on the avalanche problems... Remember that an avalanche hazard rating is not simply a color on a scale. It is the likelihood of an avalanche impacting something of value — for our purposes, that thing is you. The best way to manage this uncertainty is to build wide safety margins into your travel decisions. A margin is essentially a buffer zone between you and a large amount of uncertainty that exists when traveling in any backcountry environment. The great thing about using margin is that we can adjust ours as conditions change to allow for greater room for error. With more snowfall and increasing winds today, our margins are shrinking. We can offset this narrowing of our buffer zone by choosing terrain that is sheltered from current (and previous) wind loading and by dialing back slope angles.

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