Avalanche forecast

Sawtooth & Western Smoky Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Triggering a large avalanche is most likely as you climb into exposed, windy terrain with variable snow depths. Avoid slopes with stiff, wind-drifted snow at the surface.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Recent strong winds formed cohesive slabs up to 3 feet thick in upper and some middle elevation locations. Watch for smooth pillows, dunes, and large wind features below ridgelines as well as on the sides of cross-loaded gullies. Harder slabs may feel hollow and sound like a drum as you move across them. 

    Thankfully, wind slabs are generally easy to identify and avoid. Feeling for stiff snow under your boards or machine, and cracks shooting out ahead of you, are an obvious sign that you've found a wind slab. Hard wind slabs behave unpredictably; they can break above you and wider than expected.

    (12/28/2025)

    A natural large wind slab avalanche and widespread wind-affected snow surfaces up in the Southern Sawtooth Range.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–3

    Triggering a large persistent slab avalanche may be unlikely, but the consequences remain quite high. Unfortunately, the snowpack has weak interfaces both in the upper half (mostly around crusts) and more deeply buried (weak sugary facets) that avalanched naturally during the snowfall and wind events a few days ago. These lingering weak layers take time to heal. 

    Direct feedback from the snowpack (such as cracking and collapsing) continues to decrease, and it feels as though we've entered that liminal space where the first sign of instability you may receive is triggering a large avalanche. These destructive avalanches are most likely to be triggered in windy and/or rocky areas where the snowpack depth is variable and in more sheltered terrain where the snowpack depth is around 3 feet deep (like we found yesterday outside Baldy). Avoidance is still the best option to reduce your risk, especially on wind-loaded slopes. Assume the slab + potential weak layer setup exists on all slopes until you dig in the snow to prove otherwise.

    (12/28/2025)

    Paradise Peak and West Fork Big Creek large natural avalanches

    Photo: Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Avalanche Discussion

If you choose to head out in the mountains today, don't let the lovely weather lull you into forgetting that we were in the heart of a widespread avalanche cycle only a few days ago. There have been 44 avalanches large enough to bury a person observed in the last week. While the chances of triggering an avalanche may be (slowly) decreasing and the signs of instability may be less frequent, the consequences of these larger persistent slab avalanches remain high.

Add in an extra margin of error if you're poking around in windy and/or rocky terrain where the snow depths are thinner or more variable, such as the headwaters of the Salmon River and Frenchman Ck drainages, near the mouths of Smiley and Beaver Ck, and on the eastern front of the Sawtooth Mountains. In these areas, there's a better chance of awakening the dragon (weak faceted snow buried 4-8 feet deep) due to the combination of recent wind-loading and variable snow depths.

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