Bollettino valanghe

Tetons

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Tue
Alta quota
3 · Marcato
Limite del bosco
3 · Marcato
Sotto il limite
3 · Marcato
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 3 years ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

You can find safer travel on gentler slopes not connected to steep terrain. Obvious signs of instability like natural avalanches, cracking, and collapsing, may be decreasing, but it remains very easy to trigger a large avalanche on many steep slopes. Carefully consider the terrain you think of as safe and give steep areas a wider margin than usual. Avalanches can be triggered below or next to a slope, creating a broader, more destructive slide.

 

Problemi valanghivi

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    In a little over two weeks, we've received 5 feet of snow with over 6 inches of snow water equivalent (SWE), in addition to very warm recent temperatures. These changes have overloaded the widespread weak snow formed during our long December drought*. You can find this avalanche problem on many slopes, and knowing the trend in instability in the terrain you frequent and being patient with this avalanche problem will be essential. Avalanches could break 2 to 4 feet deep in the middle and upper elevations and 1 to 2 feet deep below 7,500 feet. These avalanches continue to be triggered on all aspects (shaded and sunny) at all elevations. Slabs could be triggered from a distance by the first rider or even wait until the last person in your group is riding the slope to release. If you are uncertain about the terrain around you, sticking to a lower-angle option with little consequence is the best way to mitigate this problem.

    Remember that the side-country of any resort or areas like Teton Pass can be the first place folks start stepping out. This problem is absolutely present in these locations, and a concentration of more people may increase the odds of being involved in a large avalanche triggered by another party.  Choosing lower-angled terrain and safe travel practices will be the easiest and most reliable way to have a safe mountain day. 

    *[think DDL#2 but peskier]

    (1/20/2024)

    A large, wide propagating persistent slab avalanche that occurred yesterday day afternoon south of JHMR.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    2–3.5

    Weak snow formed during a dry period in November persists at the base of the snowpack. This layer is now buried about 5 to 6 feet deep in the Tetons. It is at its weakest on the north half of the compass. Recent loading and warm temperatures are keeping this weak layer on the radar. These very large avalanches are most likely to occur when an avalanche triggered in the most recent snow steps down to weak old snow. Any avalanche involving the entire snowpack will be destructive and likely unsurvivable.

Avalanche Discussion

We all have perceptions and biases about what is happening in the snow around us. Though these two things do not correlate with the actual risk of an avalanche in a particular place, they are intertwined in the human element of traveling in the mountains. It's easy to spend so much time in a place that we turn off our critical reassessment eyes; setting a skintrack you always thread into a spot that typically doesn't slide even when conditions are at their worst feels like visiting an old friend. But the current setup, with this layer, warrants that you are continually assessing the terrain around you and the snowpack in that terrain. The shallower the snowpack, the more likely you are to experience signs of instability, and the deeper the snowpack, the less likely you are to see these obvious warning signs.  Even in areas with a deeper snowpack and perhaps less obvious signs of instability, human-triggered avalanches remain likely, and you are less likely to be warned by the snowpack beforehand. If you choose to enter the mountains without any additional assessment each day, you choose to accept a very wide range of outcomes. All danger is not equal; no two seasons set up the same, and the current snowpack will require continual reassessment, careful terrain selection, and patience to play in the mountains with a wide enough margin.   

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