Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

A weak freeze at low elevations and plenty of sunshine today will make small, wet snow avalanches possible on steep slopes again today. Older wind drits have had time to bond, but isolated stiff drifts may still be able to produce avalanches. Generally stable avalanche conditions exist and large avalanches are unlikely.

Last night's storm brought a whopping trace-1" of new snow to this zone. This is not nearly enough snow to significantly affect the avalanche hazard. There isn't a single, well-defined avalanche problem today, but there are several things to be thinking about. Remember that even small slides can have high consequences if they knock you off your feet and carry you through unfriendly terrain. 

Wet Snow Avalanches: Thick cloud cover and near-freezing temperatures at lower elevations prevented the snowpack from solidly refreezing in portions of this zone. Another day with plenty of sunshine is on tap for today, but temperatures will generally cooler than they've been. Pay attention to the snow surface if you are out searching for corn on slopes that face the sun. If it is getting wet and slushy and you can jab your poles or the track of your machine into wet snow underneath it is time to seek out either a colder or a lower angle slope. Thanks to the weak freeze down low, the transition from crusty skiing/riding -> corn skiing/riding -> time to find a colder slope may happen a bit more rapidly today. Be ready to be flexible and alter your plans if need be.

Wind Slabs: Most older wind slabs have had time to bond, but on Friday a skier in the Warm Springs drainage managed to find one that hadn't (photo and details here). I went and looked at this slide yesterday and found that the slab that failed was a very stiff wind drift sitting on facets. This combination exists in many places in this zone, though most of these slabs have had time to bond to the surfaces they are resting on. Very small slabs may have formed from last night's snowfall, though those will be few and far between. Where they exist they will be touchier than the older generation of slabs. Be on the lookout for signs that the wind has been at work, like ripples and dunes on the snow surface. These will help you identify these fresh drifts. If the new snow suddenly becomes deeper or stiffer you've likely found one of these slabs.

Persistent Slabs: The weak snow leftover from October storms is much more common in the deeper snowpack in the western half of this zone (Dollarhide to the Soldiers). This snow forms the base of the snowpack on shaded slopes at middle and upper elevations. Triggering an avalanche involving this snow has become unlikely, but not impossible. You'd be most likely to have an issue with this snow on very steep, rocky slopes with variable snow cover, thanks to the effect of the wind.

We encourage you to continue to follow your basic safe travel protocols, even during periods of LOW danger: Wear your beacon, carry your rescue gear, and know how to use it. Make good plans and keep your eyes on your partners. Only expose one member of your party to avalanche hazard at a time and think about the consequences of being caught and carried down the slope in the terrain that you are traveling through. It is somewhat counterintuitive, but LOW danger days are a great time to practice these habits as we are more likely to be putting ourselves into real avalanche terrain on these days.