Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

Generally stable avalanche conditions exist, and large avalanches are unlikely. Look for thin drifts in exposed middle and upper elevation terrain. While small and isolated, recent drifts and slabs may be easy to trigger. Small, loose snow avalanches are possible on very steep slopes at lower and middle elevations.

It's been mostly dry since the first week of January aside from small storms beginning on January 20th and January 30th. Check out our Storm Totals page to see a spreadsheet detailing each storm event this season. Despite the prolonged dry spell, the snowpack here is around 100% of normal. Thankfully, the strong start to the winter was enough to endure the past 4 weeks of mostly dry weather. I pulled data from the SNOTEL weather stations near Dollarhide (here), Trail Ck Pass (here), and Swede Pk in the Little Wood (here). Check them out to see how we compare to the 30-year average. 

Triggering a large avalanche is unlikely, but here are a couple of small problems to consider, especially if you're considering complex, high consequence terrain: 

Wind Slabs: Yesterday, a skier intentionally triggered a small wind slab in the Sawtooths. The slab was 4-8" thick and 30' wide. The slab failed on a layer of weak, faceted snow that sat above a crust. Similar small slabs were triggered on Tuesday in Lake Ck north of Ketchum, and on Monday near Galena Peak.

You're most likely to encounter this problem where thin slabs rest on faceted snow + crusts or surface hoar from the January drought. Keep your eyes peeled for textured, wind-sculpted snow surfaces, especially near exposed ridgelines. Although small, they may be large enough to knock you off your feet. Consider the consequences of triggering a small slide if you are traveling in serious terrain. 

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 have the best odds of finding trouble on slopes with the following characteristics:

• Steep: slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
• Rocky: slopes with variable snow cover due to the roughness of the terrain.
• Wind-affected: slopes where December and January's strong winds produced variable snow depths.

Loose Snow: January's drought and temperature inversions produced a weak, cohesionless snowpack on shaded slopes at middle and low elevations. As the snow surface "rots" and turns to sugar, it becomes increasingly possible to trigger loose snow slides termed "facet-lanches".  Last week, a skier was knocked off their feet by one of these sluffs (observation). Once moving, the cohesionless snow can gain a surprising amount of speed and mass in very steep terrain.