Bollettino valanghe

Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Sawtooth 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 chance of triggering an avalanche is greatest in the western portion of this zone (Dollarhide Summit to the Soldier Mountains) where much more snow has fallen in recent days. Triggering an avalanche is most likely where you find stiff, wind-drifted snow near the surface. Avalanches can be triggered remotely—from below, above, and to the sides of steeper terrain.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    The weak snow buried near the ground continues to be the primary avalanche concern in this zone. While encountering a wind slab is more likely in the western part of this zone, any wind slab you trigger has a chance of "stepping-down" to the weak snow near the ground. Wednesday, I observed this overlap in avalanche problems on Galena Peak. Tuesday in Baker Creek, we saw multiple slab avalanches that were triggered by loose snow sluffs or small cornice fall. 

    Recent snowfall has hidden signs of wind events in places, making it more difficult to tell when you're on previously wind-loaded slopes. This fact has made many experienced skiers and riders think twice about entering consequential avalanche terrain, despite the gradually decreasing danger. 

    ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION:Small wind slab avalanches are possible in very steep terrain—particularly near Dollarhide Summit and the Soldier Mountains with more recent snow and wind. These relatively small slides can have big consequences if they carry you through rocky, treed terrain or push you down into a terrain trap like a gully or a creek bed.

    (2/12/2021) This avalanche was triggered by a rider NE of Wells Summit in the Soldier & Wood River Valley zone. The slide broke around 40' wide and carried the rider about 100 yards. A section of the cornice also released in the slide.

Avalanche Discussion

In the past few weeks, snowpack characteristics have diverged significantly across our forecast area. In our northern zones, we are primarily dealing with "new snow" avalanche problems including fresh wind slabs created by new snow + wind (photo, photo, photo) as well as loose snow avalanches in very steep terrain. Less snow has fallen in our southern zones and an overall shallower snowpack has kept persistent weak layers or "old snow" avalanche problems at the top of our problem list. 

Recent storm totals and overall snow depth are highly variable across the zone. The one constant tying these mountains together, and what makes these areas much different than our northern zones is the overall shallower snow depth. Most areas have snow depths of less than 4' deep and impacting weak layers of snow in the middle and lower portions of the snowpack remains a real possibility. We've continued to receive reports of snowpack collapsing from Baker Ck on up to Galena Pass. In the past two days, I've observed shallow, weak snowpacks near Galena Summit (observation) and in the Boulders (video). 

Given the same amount of snow and wind, the shallow, weaker areas in this zone will react much differently than the deeper, more forgiving areas. A quick spike in snowfall and moderate wind can quickly change the stability equation. Slabs like these can keep the threat of human-triggered slides elevated for several days after a storm. In addition, it's more difficult to separate new snow avalanche problems like wind slabs and cornice breaks from old snow problems like our persistent slabs. This is the case simply because smaller slides or cornice failures have a very real chance to "step-down" to more deeply buried weak layers, a scenario we saw play out on Titus Ridge last weekend (observation/photo). 

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