Avalanche forecast

Silver Valley & Bitterroot Mountains

Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago.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

Highlights

New snow and strong winds are forming dangerous slabs of snow that are overloading fragile weak snow layers. It will be very likely for backcountry travelers to trigger large avalanches in the new snow, and some could release naturally. Avalanches on drifted slopes have potential to break wider across terrain features, run long distances, and be more difficult to escape.

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2

    Snowfall over the last 24 hours ranges 6 to 8 inches. Strong winds are easily distributing the dense storm snow into thicker slabs directly above fragile and collapsible weak snow layers. Erratic and swirling winds have formed a complex distribution of fresh slabs across aspects and in varying locations – deeper drifts may be lurking lower in the terrain than normal. Choose conservative, low-angle terrain well away from steeper, bigger overhead hazards to account for the uncertainty of triggering a slide from a distance. Avoidance may be the best tool in the bag for today.

    (1/21/2025)

    It will be very easy to trigger avalanches in the new snow. Fresh slabs of snow are overloading fragile weak snow layers directly below. Bitterroot Mountains. January 21, 2025.

    Photo: Izzy Davis

Avalanche Discussion

Today is a good day to dial back your ambitions and terrain selections or tackle a home project or go bowling. Fresh, cohesive slabs teetering above a pile of large (1-1.5 mm) faceted grains and very large surface hoar (15 to 25 mm) is like rolling the dice with a loaded gun. It won’t take much effort to trigger a large, dangerous avalanche on slopes steeper than about 30 degrees. The forecast staff traveling in the West Cabinet Mountains on Friday observed rapidly changing conditions throughout the day. Subtle cracking along the skin track evolved into long-running cracks in drifted areas, and loud rumbling collapses where surface hoar was intact and upright below the new snow.

Snow doesn’t like or handle rapid change well, and building two-foot-thick slabs in around 24 hours will effectively push the snowpack scale to the edge – if not over. With how weak (mostly F to 4F-) the snow is below the new snow, the odds of triggering a slide on an adjacent slope or from below is exponentially increased. Add a patchwork of old, wind-affected layers and crust, and you’ve got a complex, unpredictable upper snowpack with many flavors of potential doom. Avoid traveling above terrain traps like gullies or depressions with steep overhead hazards – especially where there is no exit option.

While tough, adjusting our travel mindset from what is has been over the last several weeks will go a long way to help reduce your avalanche risk. The usual risk management strategies should not be relied on during elevated, touchy conditions like today. Don’t rely on stability tests as a go or no-go decision, and treat early warning signs of fresh avalanches, cracking in the snow, and loud audible collapses as your backcountry guardian angel.

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**We continue to receive intermittent reports of opening glide cracks and some failing naturally producing large to very large glide avalanches. Avoid traveling on or below slopes where a glide crack has opened. These types of avalanches are difficult to forecast when they will release.**

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