Avalanche forecast

Galena Summit & Eastern Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Recent new snow and consistent moderate winds have created sensitive avalanche conditions at upper elevations. To avoid avalanches, be on the lookout for shooting cracks and other wind-features around avalanche start zones as an indicator to move to mellower or more sheltered terrain. In the drier eastern half of this zone, you still may be able to trigger large persistent slab avalanches.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Strong winds coupled with 10+ inches of snowfall formed wind slabs up to 2 feet thick over the past 48 hours. Expect to find these slabs in open terrain, near ridgelines, in cross-loaded gullies, and on steep aprons below cliffs at middle and upper elevations. Alpine terrain received higher snowfall amounts and stronger winds, making these areas the most likely locations to find wind slabs today.

    Cracks shooting out from your sled or boards are a clear sign you've found a slab and should dial back your terrain choices. Other evidence to look for is wind drifted "whales" or "dunes," wind loaded "lenses" or "pillows," and listen for hollow "drum-like" sounding surface snow. On some slopes, crusts and / or weak snow exist beneath the new snow, meaning that avalanches could be easy to trigger and may break wider than you expect.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–2.5

    Triggering a large persistent slab avalanche is possible today, especially in the eastern areas of the zone where the snowpack is more shallow. The snow and rain over the past 48 hours have added additional load to these slabs while potentially weakening the interfaces with buried weak layers. You may not receive any feedback, such as collapses or "whumpfs" prior to triggering one of these large destructive avalanches. Digging and probing the snowpack to find the weak buried snow is the best way to find this problem. If the weak snow is buried less than 3 feet down, use that as a signal to adjust your terrain choices to mellower terrain. Persistent Slabs can release in surprising ways and break much wider than expected.

    Persistent Slab avalanches are most likely in the thinner snowpacks of the Pioneer and Boulder Mtns in the eastern part of this zone. 

    (2/18/2025) A skier on Patterson Pk near Hailey triggered this large avalanche. After several turns on the slope, the slide broke above and around them. Thankfully, the skier was able to ski ahead and to the side of the slab. NW @ 8,050'. Photo: Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Avalanche Discussion

Continued moderate winds have kept the danger elevated in upper elevations, but we'd be keeping our heads on a swivel in middle elevations today too. Why? Middle elevations in the Galena Summit and Eastern Mountains zone extend all the way up to 9500 feet, meaning that you can easily find open wind-exposed terrain there too. Field observations from yesterday pointed to wind-slab development primarily above 9000 feet, with one natural wind slab reported up the Baker Creek drainage in open, near-alpine terrain. We also observed small, touchy storm slabs off Titus ridge with minimal wind-affect. Limited visibility probably means that we didn't see all the possible avalanches that occurred and, therefore, there is uncertainty with the full spatial distribution of the problem right now.If you're out and find cracking, obvious wind-loaded features or avalanches - send us an observation to help clarify the picture!

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