Avalanche forecast

Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago.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

Highlights

Weak layers (sugary facets, surface hoar, and/or crusts) are buried beneath slabs up to 3 feet thick. Human-triggered avalanches remain likely on both sunny and shady aspects. The middle elevations, particularly around 7,500 to 8,500 feet, have more continuous weak snow layering. Assess the snow you are riding on. Conservative travel practices are necessary on all steep slopes, including treed areas in the middle and low elevations.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Areas of faceted snow, crusts+facets, and buried surface hoar are widespread across this range and concentrated in the low to middle elevations. Field observations are consistently finding unstable conditions in snowpits, with failure and full propagation continuing several days after any new snowfall.  Add a data point to your assessment of the snowpack by digging, and move one at a time both on the uphill and downhill in avalanche terrain.  

    (12/2/2022)

    Another look at that slide above the Squaw Creek Road. 5'9" human volunteered to provide a sense of scale. 

    Photo: Max Mogren

Avalanche Discussion

Nearly every snowpit in the observations over the past several weeks has continued to propagate at the middle and upper elevation bands (around 7,500 to 10,000 feet). These areas include frequently travelled areas like Squaw and Willow Creeks. The results of avalanche mitigation at Snow King yesterday also produced another avalanche in the low elevation band. The snowpack structure is poor at low elevations, and smaller snowfall amounts are capable of tipping the stability scales.

Areas of faceted snow, crusts+facets, and buried surface hoar are widespread across our forecast areas, espeicially in the Greys zone. Some of these snowpack layers are also known to persist predominantly in the middle to lower elevations, dependent on the mountain range.  Stability tests are failing on a variety of weak layers found on both southerly and northerly aspects, and primarily hold a mix of thicker layers of small facets, and/or surface hoar.  A common theme appears to be high strength in extended column tests (high # of taps before failure) and fair structure (not the worst, not the best).  The longer these problems linger, the more I view the terrain I approach with caution. Time heals (sometimes), but until then, these results are spooky and far trickier than if there was more obvious instability and easier failure. The slab above these layers is significant and thick-- implying a low probability but high consequence scenario. Communicate with your partners about what you are seeing in the snowpack and talk about the terrain around you and above you. 

Additionally: This zone received 2-4 inches of snowfall. Even this small amount will stress weak layers. Steer clear of any wind-drifted areas that are also adding load to the weak snow underneath and are more likely to trigger. 

Regions covered