Bulletin d’avalanche

Tetons

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Wed
Alpin
1 · Faible
Limite forestière
1 · Faible
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 8 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Triggering an avalanche is unlikely today. Isolated areas of unstable snow could exist in very steep, rocky alpine terrain where wind has drifted and scoured snow. The greater hazards to travel in the backcountry include a shallow snowpack with many obstacles and submerged hazards and even long sliding fall conditions.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Unlikely
    Taille
    1.5–2.5

    Poor snowpack structure exists on shaded aspects where weak snow exists two to four feet beneath a hard slab. The weak layers are now capped by a stout rain and temperature crust up to 9,500’ and firmer, settled snow above that elevation. These firm to hard slabs lie two to five feet above weak layers that appear to have become unreactive to triggering. Though stability test pits show moderately unstable results, you could make a good case that these results are false given that other signs of instability like cracking, collapsing and avalanches are not currently present. That said, slope failure cannot be ruled out entirely in isolated areas above about 9,500’ where wind has redistributed snow and possibly brought the weak layer within reach of triggering. This avalanche problem will be tested again in the next few days as a new load of snow is applied.

    (12/11/2025)

    Large natural avalanche that occurred at the end of the storm on Dec 10th.  Slab formed by wind loading looks to have failed on the persitent weak layer buried in early November. 

Avalanche Discussion

Observers yesterday were able to ferret out good turns on sunny slopes but not without dealing with shallow snow and sagebrush at lower elevations and refrozen crusts almost everywhere else. The euphemism for conditions right now is “technical”, especially today with solar input being limited to non-existent.

A variety of potential future problem layers exist out there and are worth keeping in mind as the next round of winter storms approach. These include slick surfaces like rain or melt/freeze crusts up to about 9,500’  and near-surface facets in high, shady terrain. Deeper in the snowpack, basal facets are there but not particularly advanced or terrible. Look for new snow tomorrow to bond just long enough to develop an easily-triggered slab in many areas with dust-on-crust conditions below 9,000’ initially. With any luck, warm temperatures will improve that bond but strong wind speeds and a variety of surface snow conditions will make it important to maintain an assessment mindset. 

Régions couvertes