Bollettino valanghe

Silver Valley & Bitterroot Mountains

Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Sat
Alta quota
2 · Moderato
Limite del bosco
2 · Moderato
Sotto il limite
1 · Debole
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 6 years ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

The pineapple express that hit us earlier in the week has left crusts everywhere!  These vary in thickness but have the surface of the snowpack locked together for now.  The hidden danger is the buried persistent weak layers that still lurk below these new crusts.  Check your location for how reactive they are.  

Problemi valanghivi

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    2–3

    At our higher elevations the rain did not soak through the snowpack enough to eliminate our buried persistent weak layers.  In the eastern half of our zone we have been finding a reactive surface hoar about 3 ft deep that still pops with surprising ease in sheltered areas.  Not to say it isn't there in the western half, it's just been harder to find.  The buried layers in our snowpack continue to be highly variable, the only common thing is they are now capped by a thick crust!  Slight changes in aspect and elevation can have different buried layers and different stability.  Keep sticking your head in the snow to check out these problems.   

Avalanche Discussion

The rain came, the rain went. The wind came, the wind went.  It was a rough couple of days in the backcountry for our zone! We had a natural avalanche cycle and saw evidence of some lower elevation glides that opened.  We also saw a large crown on the Hanakar Bowl.   Yesterday we found (crashed through) stout crusts all the way up to 6000' with no new snow on top. We couldn't make it to the highest of elevations in our forecast zone, but if places did have a tail end of snow from the storm it either blew away or is just dust on crust.  If you make it to 6400' or higher please submit an observation. (And please don't slide backwards on your sled or break a leg in the process!).  The crusts were prevalent everywhere from the parking lot to the top of the mountain, being the thickest around the 5000' in elevation. There were times where the snowmobile would only break through by being on it's edge!  Honestly, avalanche problems are a lesser worry than general safety of traveling through or crashing in that stuff right now!

So for right now, there isn't much worry about surface layers moving.  What is worrisome is the large crop of surface hoar that is sitting on a nice, smooth surface right now.  If this gets buried intact, well, we'll just wait and see what the next storm brings!

If you go out this weekend, I highly recommend bringing a saw! A big one!  There are lots of trees down everywhere.  But since the riding and sliding sucks off trail, it will give ample time to chat with friends while you watch each other sweat too much wearing full gear and clearing trees out of the trail.  Maybe pack some hot dogs too. 

Remember to submit observations to the website. Contest going until the end of January. See the events page for more details. 

 

Regioni coperte