Avalanche forecast

Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago.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

Highlights

Snowfall and wind will continue to craft slabs, especially at upper elevations. New snow may also mask older wind slabs that remain sensitive to triggering. Look for evidence of wind, such as drifts, stiffened surfaces, or cornices. These spots hold a higher potential for triggering a larger avalanche breaking deeper in the snowpack. Safer conditions can be found on wind-sheltered, gentle slopes.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Weak snow exists near the middle and at the base of the snowpack, around 1-3 feet deep. These weak layers are most consistent on the east, north, and west-facing slopes and have slightly less potential on southerly aspects. These weak snow layers can propagate widely across terrain features.  Shooting cracks or collapses are a clear sign of danger, but these obvious signs of instability will not always show themselves before an avalanche releases. Check out the snow by digging to identify areas with poor snow structure before you commit to steeper objectives. Another tool is to probe the snow and feel for weak areas with shallower total snow that may harbor buried persistent weak layers.

    ADDITIONAL DISCUSSIONHeightened avalanche conditions exist where the wind has drifted snow. These areas can be found on various terrain features and aspects and hold the potential for triggering a larger avalanche. The best way to find these features is to identify and avoid recent drifts and stiffer wind slabs on steep slopes. If you're traveling through thicker snow or see cracks around your machine or feet, you've found a wind slab. Wind-affected areas can be identified by pillowed drifts or dunes, cornices along ridge crests, running down sub-ridges, and/or stiffened snow surfaces. Snowfall amounts will increase today, but amounts on the lower end will likely not increase hazard significantly. If you find 8 inches or more of new or wind-blown snow, expect avalanche conditions to worsen. 

     

    (2/12/2024)

    Heavy wind affect near Gunsight Pass

    Photo: Travis Baldwin

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–3

    There are old faceted weak layers near the ground that are more stubborn to human triggers. These dense old slabs may not give warning signs before release; they are most commonly triggered from terrain features with shallow or variable snowpacks or if avalanches in the upper snowpack gain enough mass to step down.  

    It will be easiest to impact weak snow from December in areas where the snowpack remains shallow. Parts of the Wyoming Range, including the upper Hoback, Palmer Creek, and Little Greys, still have shallow, weak snowpacks. The Snake and Salt River Ranges have deeper snowpacks, making it more difficult to impact deeply buried weak snow. In these areas, the easiest way to trigger one of these avalanches will be with another avalanche that breaks in the most recent snow.

    (2/12/2024)

    Two avalanches pictured off Prospect Peak. The avalanche on the left had impressive propagation. Both likely failed on old snow buried Jan 4th. 

    Photo: Alex Drinkard

Avalanche Discussion

When snowfall is gradual but continual over weeks of time, the snowpack may not show us its cards. This puts us, as backcountry users, in a particularly low-feedback scenario. Avalanches occur, get covered up by more snowfall, are blown in by the wind, happen overnight, and are never seen. Understanding that we see a small spectrum of what happens in a mountain range on a given day or storm cycle is important. Even with so many user observations--which are helpful to the community and we are incredibly grateful for--many have a bias toward frequented locations. They may be less representative of deeper or less visited areas. Keep this in mind when making travel plans today.  Avoiding terrain with the following characteristics and giving slopes more time can help reduce your risk:

  • Windy. Is there evidence of wind loading? Does the terrain seem exposed to the wind?
  • Shaded. Nearly all recent avalanches have occurred on slopes with a northern tilt.
  • Rocky or visibly thin. Again, many of the recent avalanches have occurred in areas that are rocky or above cliff bands. 

Regions covered