Avalanche forecast

Galena Summit & Eastern Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Look for isolated pockets of stiff, windblown snow at upper elevations. Weak snow buried 1 foot or less deep hasn't become a widespread issue yet, but that may change in the coming days. Generally safe avalanche conditions exist in wind-sheltered terrain or where the upper snowpack surface is frozen solid.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Small but sensitive wind slabs exist in upper elevation terrain in this zone. I went out looking for these yesterday in the Smoky Mountains, and I found a few (photo at right/above). These slabs I encountered were never more than 6" thick, but they were easy to trigger. This type of problem poses the greatest hazard to you in areas where being carried downslope at speed could be hazardous. Are there rocks, cliffs, and trees below you? Spend a bit of time thinking about the consequences of being knocked off your feet and sent down the hill.

    ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION For the most part, the weak layers of snow buried in the upper foot of the snowpack haven't reached their tipping point in this zone, yet. However, the large avalanche that occurred near the crest of the Smoky Mountains (photos and details here) is an indication that we may not be far away. I was looking for this problem yesterday and I received repeated unstable snowpack test scores on an ugly layer of facets buried 10 inches deep (video here, observation here). If you were unlucky enough to encounter this problem today it would likely be on a slope at middle or upper elevation on the northern half of the compass.

    (3/6/2022) This very small wind slab was intentionally triggered with some kicking near the crest of the Smoky Mountains, south of Galena Summit. It failed on an icy crust that formed during the warm weather last week.

Avalanche Discussion

Wow, it has been quite a dry two months in our part of the world! Thanks to a lack of snowfall, we've gone through many weeks of LOW danger across our entire forecast area. These conditions have allowed us to travel freely in the mountains, spending significant time in avalanche terrain in the middle of winter. If you have spent much time around here you know that this is pretty unusual. However, with weak layers buried in the upper portion of our snowpack and snow in the forecast, it is time to begin to shift that mindset.   

The Banner Summit area is a good leading indicator for the types of conditions we may be encountering in the mountains in the coming days and weeks. Here, more snow has fallen and we've reached the tipping point between stability and instability. Numerous slab avalanches occurred here during the storm last week and the possibility of human-triggered avalanches is on the table today. As we travel south, the slab of snow overlying these weak layers is thinner and the likelihood of encountering this problem is significantly lower. Light snowfall returns to the area this evening and continues through Wednesday. Even though we aren't anticipating huge snow totals from this storm, we will be inching towards the breaking point of these weak layers. Take some time today to think about how you are moving through the mountains and how that will change when there is a meatier slab on the surface. In the Banner Summit area, our travel practices have already become more conservative. Further south, it won't take much additional loading before we find ourselves taking a big step back. I hope you have enjoyed the simpler conditions of the past months because our world is set to become quite a bit more complex.

Catch up on what happened with this week's wet, wild, and windy storm in Chris's Weekend Update! 

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