Avalanche forecast

Selkirk Mountains

Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

A firm sun crust sits beneath the newly fallen snow which will continue today. The underlying sun crust will likely make a good slide plane for the new snow. Triggering a wind slab avalanche is possible today, mainly on isolated wind-loaded slopes.  Be on the lookout for thicker wind-drifted areas of snow and steer around them on slopes over 35 degrees.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Today, you may encounter a few inches of low density snow sitting on top of the sun crust from yesterday. 4-8'' of snow can be expected on leeward aspect across the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains.  A southwest wind will primarily load northerly slopes, which may make for deeper drifts on those aspects. Triggering an avalanche in wind-loaded areas is possible today. Feel for heavier, denser snow and keep an eye out for wind effected surfaces. Drifts can be expected in isolated areas such as  gullies, rollovers and around terrain features such as rock bands or road cuts. Pay attention for shooting cracks or recent avalanche activity.

    Hand pits will be an effective tool for determining how well the new snow slides on the old snow surface. Above treeline areas are the most likely place to find wind-affected snow. Managing the slope angle will manage the problem!

Avalanche Discussion

Yesterday Sage Guerber and Brian Hilland went into the field to make some observations and collect some data. They snowmobiled into the western Cabinets and toured into the Trestle Creek area. The south facing aspects were getting hit hard with sun this last week, and this morning felt no different. Warmer temperatures and relatively light winds made for easy travel across the surface. The snow exposure to the most sun started to create a sun crust which supported our weight well on skis, however, we observed snow bike tracks that seemed to break through the sun crust.

 We snowmobiled a few miles up the road and parked the sled at an elevation of 3400’ on a due west aspect near FS-1082. After finding continuous snow for travel, we climbed to the Beetop-Roundtop trail. The sun was out while be climbed and it felt like springtime. The development of corn snow was becoming ever more present as each hour passed.  When we reached an elevation of 6000’, graupel started to fall and didn't let up for nearly 45 min until it turned into light snowfall.

We dug two small test profiles on the eastern and western aspects. In our test we found that most of our concern lies within the upper layers of the snowpack, 35cm beneath the surface, which failed with stubborn resistance on an old, faint surface hoar layer. These top layers look like they've healed well with help from the sun penetrating through and warming the top snowpack. While we were riding back to the snowmobiles, we encountered corn skiing on decent. At lower elevations, trees shedding snow made for some impressive pinwheels on steep angle slopes in the lower mid elevations. Some larger trees had melted all the snow around its base and dirt was starting to become exposed. Snow was beginning to rot near exposed rocks. 

If you find something you feel would benefit our backcountry community, submitting an observation will help everyone make better decisions in the backcountry. You can even post anonymously! We want to hear about your backcountry experiences.  All observations can be submitted into the IPAC Observations page at https://www.idahopanhandleavalanche.org.  We look at them every time we forecast!

Be safe and we’ll see you over the next ridge.

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