Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Generally stable avalanche conditions exist. Use caution around wind slabs and drifts at upper elevations. Sluffs in the sugary surface snow are possible on very steep slopes at lower and middle elevations.

There are no well-defined avalanche problems in this zone, but here are a couple of potential hazards to keep in mind:

Wind Slabs: Several bouts of wind over the past week have created wind slabs in exposed terrain. At upper elevations and in the alpine, you'll likely find a fun mixture of sastrugi, icy polished surfaces, crusts, and hard wind slabs. Watch for areas that are relatively smooth, chalky-looking, or drifted in appearance—these are likely to be wind slabs. They are generally small and not likely to be triggered by your weight, but there could be an isolated sensitive slab that's sitting atop weak snow. Use caution around these old wind slabs, especially in consequential terrain where getting knocked off your feet or sled would be a dangerous proposition.

Persistent Slabs: Weak, faceted snow exists near the base of the snowpack. You're most likely to find it on shady slopes above about 8000' in elevation—especially in the deeper snowpacks near Dollarhide Summit towards the Soldiers. Triggering an avalanche on this layer is unlikely, but not impossible. You're more likely to find trouble on slopes with the following characteristics:

• Steep: "prime-time" slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
• Rocky: slopes with variable snow cover due to the roughness of the terrain.
• Wind-affected: slopes where strong winds produced variable snow cover.

Loose Snow: The ongoing dry spell and temperature inversions have produced a thick layer of cohesionless facets on shaded slopes at middle and low elevations. As the snow surface turns to sugar, it becomes increasingly possible to trigger loose snow slides—sometimes called "facet-lanches".  Earlier this week, a skier was knocked off their feet by one of these sluffs (observation). Once moving, this cohesionless snow can gain a surprising amount of speed and mass in very steep terrain. 

Catch up on what happened this week in Ben's latest Weekend Update.