Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The general avalanche hazard is CONSIDERABLE. A well developed, persistent weak layer of faceted snow and depth hoar lies at the base of the snowpack. In steep terrain, the potential continues for backcountry travelers to trigger hard slab avalanches involving this basal layer. These poorly supported slabs could be triggered by a single person, and more likely by heavier loads such as snowmobiles, even after a slope has been crossed many times. On Saturday, a snowmobiler was killed after triggering a deep hard slab avalanche on a south facing slope around 9,000 feet near Squaw Creek. Backcountry travelers could also trigger shallow soft slabs involving recently fallen snow in steep terrain. As the day warms, these slides will become more susceptible to failure.