Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

You are unlikely to trigger avalanches large enough to bury people. You could trigger relatively small avalanches where the wind has formed hard drifts or stiffened the snow surface. Small loose snow avalanches (sluffs) are possible on very steep slopes on the northern half of the compass.  

If you're traveling in the Dollarhide Summit/headwaters of Warm Springs Ck area where more snow fell in the past 36 hours,  the danger may be MODERATE at upper elevations. Click here for information that applies to this region.  

Although avalanches large enough to bury people are unlikely, there are a few things to know to minimize the chances of finding trouble in the mountains today:

• Wind slabs: Strong NW-N-NE winds may have formed another crop of isolated wind slabs in exposed terrain. Keep your eyes peeled for pockets of hard, wind-blown snow on and immediately below exposed ridgelines, on the sides of gullies or chutes, and near large terrain features. Any fresh slabs you find are most suspect on slopes steeper than about 35*. The slabs will probably not extend very far downslope, but they could overlie weak facets or crusts and be more sensitive to triggering than you might expect.
• Loose snow avalanches: The upper foot of the snowpack is extremely weak and faceted on some NW-N-NE-E facing slopes. On very steep slopes approaching 40*, it doesn't take much to get surficial sluffs moving. Last week, several loose snow avalanches released naturally (on their own) in the mountains near Hailey. Also, a party of skiers triggered one of these sluffs on Carbonate Mountain (observation, photo).  
• "Rogue" persistent slab avalanches: Triggering a larger avalanche on weak, sugary faceted snow deep in the snowpack would take some seriously bad luck. To minimize the odds of this scenario, you can avoid very steep (approaching 40*) slopes with large, hard wind features that keep you on the snow surface.  

Remember that small avalanches can produce big consequences in the wrong terrain. Before committing to skiing or riding that steep, beautiful-looking line, think about where an avalanche could carry you. Could you get pushed over cliffs, through trees, or into creeks or gullies? In "high stakes" terrain, consider the risk versus the reward.