Avalanche forecast

Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 7 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Avalanches are unlikely and most slopes are safe.  Be on the lookout for areas where old, stiff wind-drifts overlie weak, sugary snow. This scenario is most likely above about 9,000 feet in elevation.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    The last reported avalanche in this zone occurred 2 weeks ago when ski patrollers at Bald Mountain triggered an avalanche during mitigation work before opening the ski area. The slide failed on a wind-loaded slope that sees little ski traffic and harbored weak, sugary, faceted snow in the lower part of the snowpack.

    This exact snowpack scenario—hard, wind-drifted snow overlying weak, faceted snow—is where you're most likely to find unstable conditions today. These slabs often form downwind of prominent terrain features and can sound "drummy" or feel hollow beneath your skis or sled. While triggering a slab avalanche is unlikely, I'd still pay attention in very steep, wind-loaded terrain, especially at elevations over about 9000'.

Avalanche Discussion

The mountains in this zone have a "low tide" appearance due to well below-average snowfall since Thanksgiving. With little snow to discuss, the big story of the last month is the wind. Several bouts of strong to extreme wind built icy, hard, drifts in many areas. These lingering slabs (as described above) still pose the greatest threat of a consequential avalanche in this zone.

These slabs, however, are beginning to weaken as extended cool, dry weather "rots", the snow near the surface. In more sheltered areas the entire snowpack is losing cohesion. This may lead to a relatively rare situation where small, loose snow avalanches begin to involve the majority of the snowpack.  These "facetlanches" will increase in likelihood as high-pressure continues.

Dealing with this problem is similar to how you'd deal with low-density new snow following a storm. They start from a point and fan out to collect snow as they go. The size and consequence of these slides quickly increases in larger, funneled terrain. Keep this problem in mind if you're sinking down to the ground in sugary snow–particularly on very steep, shaded slopes.

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