Bridger Range

Winter is here in full force today and tomorrow. You may find several types of dry snow avalanches today that will grow in size and become easier to trigger as more snow falls. Your terrain selection should change through the day, generally moving to more conservative, safer, and lower angle terrain by later this afternoon.

The avalanche problems and avalanche danger today will be directly tied to how much snow falls and how much the wind blows. More snow + more wind = more avalanches. There will be 3 avalanche problems to watch for as the day progresses.

• Starting this morning, new snow from early this week became damp yesterday and should be refrozen (Dave's Beehive ob). New snow will be falling onto a soft ice crust and will sluff easily in steep terrain creating dry loose avalanches. These will grow in size and volume as more snow falls.
• Throughout the day, winds from the south then from the west should be drifting that snow as it falls creating pillows and wind slabs just under ridgetops or across gullies. These wind slabs should become larger and easier to trigger as the day progresses with more snow and more wind.
• Later today, the new snow should be right-side-up, meaning that it will become lighter as temperatures drop. However, variations in snowfall rates, gusts of wind, and minor fluctuations in temperature can create subtle layers within the new snow that can cause storm slab avalanches. If new snow amounts start getting closer to about 10 inches, start paying close attention to how the new snow is behaving and consider moving to lower angle terrain.

This forecast is just a starting point, and you may find wildly varying conditions. Just because it’s spring, don’t let your guard down. Hunt for, don't passively watch, actively look for collapsing, shooting cracks, or any signs of instability and change plans if you see these warning signs. Avalanche season isn’t over and the snowpack probably still has a few surprises for us.

Today, the avalanche danger will be determined by how much wind and new snow you find, generally increasing with elevation and through the day. At upper elevations, the danger should rise to CONSIDERABLE as it becomes easier to trigger avalanches. Middle elevations will have a MODERATE danger, and low elevations will have a LOW danger.

NOTE about Bridger Bowl - The ski area is now closed and open for uphill travel with backcountry conditions. There is no ski patrol performing avalanche mitigation or ready to help if you get hurt. Our terrain selection has to be different than when the ski area is operating. Even a tiny avalanche can sweep you off your feet and over cliffs and rocks causing major trauma.