Summary of Avalanche Conditions for Wednesday, March 10th

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:30:00 -0700

Forecaster: Chris Lundy
Brought to you by Blaine County Search and Rescue and the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

SUMMARY OF AVALANCHE CONDITIONS BY REGION:

North Wood River Valley: The avalanche danger is estimated to MODERATE. Areas of CONSIDERABLE danger exist on steep, shaded slopes at mid to upper elevations. Dangerous avalanche conditions continue to present where surface hoar and faceted snow are buried 12-18 inches deep. This layering is most widespread in the more remote areas of the Smoky Mountains typically accessed by snowmobile. Numerous avalanches have been triggered during the past few days in this region, including several yesterday in Baker Creek. In these regions, shaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees should be avoided. In the North Wood River Valley and Galena Summit area, the distribution of the weak layer is more sporadic and any slope steeper than 35 degrees needs to be carefully evaluated.

South & Central Valley: The avalanche danger is estimated to CONSIDERABLE on steep, shaded slopes at mid to upper elevations. Dangerous avalanche conditions continue to exist where 12 inches or more of recent snow has accumulated on layers of buried surface hoar and facets. Obvious signs of instability - such as cracking and collapsing - continue to be reported in this region. Shaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees should be avoided where the weak layer is found buried a foot or more deep.

Salmon Headwaters & Sawtooth Mountains: In the Salmon Headwaters, the avalanche danger is estimated to CONSIDERABLE on steep, shaded slopes at mid to upper elevations. Dangerous avalanche conditions continue to exist due to layers of surface hoar and facets buried 12-18 inches deep. Obvious signs of instability may be decreasing as time goes by, but triggering a slide on shaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees remains likely and these areas should be avoided.

In the Sawtooths, the avalanche danger is estimated to be MODERATE. This region received much less snow from early March storms, but a layer of surface hoar can still be found about a foot deep on some mid to upper elevation shaded slopes, especially those below treeline. Although the snowpack is generally stable in this region, this layer has surprised several folks over the past few weeks and steep slopes should be evaluated for the presence of this layer.

Soldier Mountains: We provide the Bottom Line for the Soldier Mountains on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays at 7:30am. Please continue to read the full advisory as the information may be applicable to this region.

For the full Avalanche Advisory visit sawtoothavalanche.com

Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center

Summary of Avalanche Conditions for Wednesday, March 10th