Avalanche forecast

Salmon River Mountains

Payette Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Fresh wind slabs up to 12 inches thick have formed from NW winds above 7,500 feet. Look for clues of wind-affected snow on upper elevation east-facing slopes. Triggering a 2-3 feet thick persistent slab avalanche remains possible—especially in wind-drifted terrain, above 7,000 feet on north and east-facing terrain. The best way to reduce your odds of triggering a large, persistent slab is by sticking to wind-sheltered, lower-angled terrain without steep slopes above you. Avalanches may be triggered remotely—from below, above, and to the sides of steep slopes.  

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    The infamous dragon lurking in the basement. A thick, well-preserved layer of surface hoar (plus or minus a crust, depending on your aspect and elevation) is buried about 2-3' deep. This layer, buried on 2/14, is slightly shallower around West Mountain (1-1/2'). Persistent slab avalanche activity has been reported on mostly N-NE-E facing slopes, above 7,000 feet, particularly in wind-loaded terrain. Unfortunately, the only way to recognize this problem is to dig into the snow to look for it. The best way to reduce your risk of triggering a persistent slab is by avoiding slopes steeper than ~35 degrees, especially those that are of rocky, wind-affected, alpine nature. Pay attention to what's below you—look for trees, rocks, gullies, and other terrain traps.

    This layer formed during several days of dry weather and cool, clear nights in mid-February and was quickly loaded and preserved with some snowfall. It appears to be responsible for a large portion of the recent avalanche activity in both zones & was likely the culprit in a remotely triggered slide. 2 feet deep is the ideal triggering depth: thin enough in many areas for a human to trigger, but thick enough to produce large and dangerous avalanches. We continue to find this 2/14 weak layer across both of our forecast zones, and it continues to produce unstable results (ECTP) in our tests.

    The best way to protect yourself against this uncertainty is to build in wide margins of safety. You can do this by practicing safe travel techniques like only exposing one person at a time on steep slopes, regrouping in safe locations away from runouts, and keeping eyes on your partners at all times. 

     

    (2/26/2026)

    Riders remote triggered this D2.5 avalanche near frog lake north of McCall on Thursday Feb 26th.

    Photo: Payette Avalanche Center

  • Wind Slabs

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

    6-10 inches of snowfall over the past 48 hours, along with strong NW winds, have formed wind slabs one or more feet thick. You're most likely to find these wind slabs above 7,500 feet on east-facing terrain. Look for clues like drifts, pillows, and fresh cornice growth. Pay attention to the change in how the snow feels from one side of the ridge to the other. If you're observing scoured surfaces on one side and stiff, slabby snow on leeward slopes, you've likely found a wind slab. Be heads up for wind slabs directly underneath ridgelines and cornices. These same slopes you're likely to encounter wind slabs are the same slopes where persistent slab activity has been most prevalent.

Avalanche Discussion

Conditions remain tricky out there. For nearly two weeks, signs of instability were obvious and in your face. We received reports of people remotely-triggering persistent slab avalanches for nearly two weeks. People were receiving direct feedback from the snowpack, and it was easy to pay attention. This was a lengthy stretch of persistent slab avalanche activity for the West Central mountains. Now, managing this persistent slab problem becomes much more difficult. It's been nearly 5 days since our last reported human-triggered avalanche. People are not receiving direct feedback with remote triggers and obvious signs of instability. Triggering a 2-3 foot deep persistent slab is becoming more difficult. The consequences of triggering a large, destructive avalanche remain the same. With no clear answer about how much the snowpack has stabilized, we need to offset this uncertainty with a healthy margin of safety in our terrain choices. In simple terms, this means continuing to choose conservative, lower-angled terrain that isn't threatened by steep slopes from above. Sticking to slopes below 7,000 feet is a safe choice to avoid this persistent slab problem. We have not heard reports of persistent slab avalanches, seen natural activity, or found much for unstable snow below ~7,000 feet. Both zones and the surrounding areas received a fair amount of rain from recent storms. The snowpack below this elevation exhibits a different slab/weak layer relationship than the snow above the rain line.

 With an especially pesky, persistent weak layer like this one, there are no clear indicators of when the risk of triggering an avalanche has decreased to an acceptable level. Some important clues include decreasing signs of instability, such as a lack of human-triggering, a lack of failure in snowpit tests, and a prolonged period with no new loading from snowfall or wind. We have only observed one of these three factors improving (lack of human triggering). Note that weak snow buried ~2 feet is deep enough that warm temperatures are changing the surface/slab above this weak snow, but not "strengthening" the weak layer itself. 

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