Bollettino valanghe

Tetons

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Thu
Alta quota
3 · Marcato
Limite del bosco
3 · Marcato
Sotto il limite
3 · Marcato
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In sintesi

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist. You will likely trigger an avalanche in or near steep terrain. Wind loaded areas will increase your chances of triggering an avalanche.  Avalanches can be triggered from above, below or next to the slope you are on. Travel in low angle, sheltered terrain.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 5pm tomorrow. Avalanche danger will increase significantly as heavy snow and wind arrive this afternoon.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Likely
    Dimensione
    1.5–3

    You are most likely to trigger an avalanche in areas of wind loaded snow. Existing wind slabs will start the day small and isolated to upper elevation lee terrain. By mid-afternoon, almost a half inch of forecasted SWE and increasing west winds could very quickly build larger touchy slabs in lee and cross loaded terrain at mid and upper elevations. While the wind slab could be the thing that knocks you off your feet, the bigger problem remains the drought layer underneath that could be rapidly stressed throughout the day by the increased wind loading. Wind slabs could easily step down to this weak layer. The December drought left a variety of very weak layers that are now buried 1 to 4 feet deep by January snow. This problem exists on all aspects and elevations except low elevation southerly slopes. Recent winds in the last several days increased loading on the snowpack and we continued to see large natural avalanches through Monday.

    Travel Advice: Be very cautious and conservative near any terrain over 30 degrees. Rapidly changing conditions warrant a large safety margin. Avoid terrain with steep slopes above you. Remote triggers are likely so keep your head on a swivel and remember that large avalanches can be triggered from above, below or adjacent to the terrain you are on. Red flags could be abundant so pay attention to the location of recent avalanches, rapid loading (lots of snow and wind), dense drifts and pillows, collapsing and shooting cracks. Today is a good day to ski low angle sheltered powder.

    (1/15/2024)

    Recent avalanche on E Face of Taylor.  Occurred sometime between Jan 14 and 15. There are two crowns, and it is hard to distinguish if they are the same, separate, or sympathetic events. The Laurel Dana slide on the left side of the photo was reported on Jan 14. 

    Photo: John Fitzgerald

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

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

    Weak, sugary snow that formed in November exists at the base of the snowpack. This problem is found mostly on shady aspects at mid and upper elevations. It is currently buried 4 to 6 feet deep. There have been several observations of avalanches stepping down to this layer in the last week. Avalanches involving this deep layer will be large and destructive. This problem sits under a weak december snowpack that is about to get a significant new load of snow in the next 36 hours. Travel advice is simple - be conservative above, below or near any terrain steeper than 30° while the snowpack continues to adjust. We will see large avalanches with long runouts with the incoming strom.

    (1/13/2024)

    Wide proagation on Devil's Slide at Teton Pass.

Avalanche Discussion

We are on the tail end of possibly a historic avalanche cycle caused by an unsually dry December that created a very weak snowpack. I've adjusted my mindset to the current conditions by stepping my terrain choices back and avoiding complex and steep terrain.  This is a conservative decision that reflects the conditions and will keep me from getting caught. For many of us, we dialed things back a week ago and so we go into this storm status quo because the evidence supports conservative operations. The North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale gives travel advice based on the current danger level. In CONSIDERABLE danger the advice is to use "cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making." This could imply the possibilty of threading the needle through avalanche terrain with a more conservative route. Given the nature of our weak snowpack, the possibility of large remote triggers, growing wind slabs and an incoming snow load, I'm going to go ahead and just recommend you avoid avalanche terrain altogether today. 

Enjoy some low-angle powder wiggles!

Regioni coperte