Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The general avalanche hazard is MODERATE today. Recent snow and wind have created dense slabs to three feet in depth on wind loaded slopes. These slabs lie on a variety of snow surfaces including slick crusts and weak layers of faceted snow. These slabs could be triggered by riders on steep wind loaded aspects and once triggered have the potential to pull out deeper layers possibly to the ground. It is important to recognize that these slabs may seem stable and may be ridden or crossed several times before an avalanche occurs. Saturday a snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche that occurred when one rider got stuck on a slope and another rider went to assist him. Their combined weight caused the slope to fail. They did not have their transcievers with them at the time.