Bollettino valanghe

Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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In sintesi

Generally stable avalanche conditions exist, and large avalanches are unlikely. You may be able to trigger avalanches in isolated areas where the wind has drifted snow. Loose snow avalanches are possible on very steep slopes. While likely to be small, either of these could be large enough to carry you where you don't want to go. 

Avalanche Discussion

The danger is LOW and large avalanches are unlikely. However, small avalanches can ruin your day. This is especially true in alpine or high-consequence terrain. Here are a few things to consider as you head into the mountains: 

WIND SLABS: Saturday, a skier triggered a wind slab avalanche (crown photo, debris photo) near Imogene Peak in the southern Sawtooth Mtns north of this zone. The skier was able to escape the small slide that broke about a foot deep and 50' wide.  Sunday, Ben found similar slabs along upper elevation ridgelines in the Trail Creek drainage (video here). Look for similar slabs near exposed ridgelines. What do the wind slabs look like? Surface texture such as ripples or dunes indicates the wind has transported snow. Be alert to changes in how the snow feels as well. If it quickly gets denser and stiffer, you probably found an isolated slab. The slabs overlie weak, faceted snow on some slopes and could be easier to trigger than you'd expect.

LOOSE SNOW AVALANCHES: Loose snow avalanches begin at a point and fan out to collect mass as they go. On colder slopes, you may trigger these "sluffs" in very steep (>40 degrees) terrain. On warmer slopes, particularly those at low and middle elevations, natural loose wet avalanches are possible. They are most likely to occur on very steep, sun-drenched slopes that are sheltered from the wind. In the wrong terrain, getting knocked over by a loose snow avalanche can be ugly. 

PERSISTENT SLABS: Weak, faceted snow exists near the base of the snowpack on shady upper elevation slopes. Triggering a persistent slab avalanche on this layer is unlikely, but it's not impossible on slopes with the following characteristics:

  • Very steep: slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
  • Rocky: slopes with variable snow cover due to the roughness of the terrain.
  • Wind-affected: slopes where December and January's strong winds produced variable snow depths.

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