Avalanche forecast

Galena Summit & Eastern Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Triggering large avalanches is not out of the question. You can greatly reduce your risk by avoiding steep, wind-affected, rocky slopes. You could trigger slides remotely—from flat terrain below, above, and to the sides of steep slopes. 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    Triggering a large avalanche remains possible on many middle and upper-elevation slopes that have wind-affected snow surfaces. The snowpack has weak interfaces both in the upper half (mostly around crusts) and more deeply buried (weak sugary facets). We’ve seen natural avalanches failing on both interfaces during the snowfall and wind events a few days ago. While less likely, triggering avalanches failing at the facets near the ground is still possible in areas where the snowpack is about 3 feet deep or less.

    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. You can reduce the chances of triggering these avalanches by avoiding steep, rocky, wind-affected slopes. 

    Additional Discussion: You may be able to trigger wind slab avalanches that formed near ridgelines and in cross-loaded areas on the sides of gullies.  Look for recent cornice growth, dunes, or ripples in the snow surface. These are signs the wind has been at work, transporting snow. These avalanches could step down to trigger the much larger avalanches described above.  

     

    (12/28/2025)

    Large natural avalanche observed in the N Fork of the Big Wood - Amber Gulch on a SE slope at 10,200 ft.

    Photo: Lundy, Scrivner

Avalanche Discussion

Avalanche conditions are tricky right now. The likelihood of triggering an avalanche is slowly dropping, but the consequences of the avalanche you could trigger are still big. To avoid triggering a large avalanche, keep “avoid steep wind-loaded slopes” at the front of your mind.

Hypothetically, let’s say someone reported an avalanche they triggered later today. Before they told us where in the terrain it was triggered, I would take a strong guess that it was in middle to upper elevations, on a steep, wind-affected, rocky slope. The avalanche type was most likely a wind slab, but it could’ve also been a larger persistent slab. Things can get messy when thinking about overlapping avalanche problems, but unfortunately, that’s our reality right now. Let's try to simplify it. 

Currently, we are concerned about avalanches failing at three distinct layers within the snowpack. Near the surface, relatively small avalanches are possible in wind-loaded terrain. In the middle of the snowpack, large avalanches can be triggered on a crust-and-facet combination. Beneath it all, weak snow persists near the ground. In many areas, two or even all three of these problems are stacked on top of each other. Since the storm around Christmas, we have observed natural avalanches failing on all three of these layers. However, most recent avalanches share a common driver: wind. Wind-loaded slopes have been the primary source of instability over the past week, whether through fresh wind slabs or wind slabs that overload deeper weak layers and push facets past their breaking point.

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