After a winter of little snow, a storm that dumped about 2 feet of snow on Galena Summit Monday night has brought a mid-winter level of avalanche hazard back to the mountains north of Ketchum.
The winter has been marked by a weak layer in the snowpack, formed early in the season, which has led to persistent avalanche danger. While spring weather patterns usually decrease the danger, Monday's storm has avalanche experts espousing caution once again.
"So much snow came down over a short period of time, around two inches per hour, with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour moving a lot of snow, all of which tends to make it a little unstable," Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center Director Janet Kellam said.
Kellam said that although the avalanche center has stopped doing its early morning reports for the season, the forecasters will continue to provide updates during the day, available on the Internet, available at www.avalanche.org, or by phone at 622-8027.
"We want to make sure to provide current information so people can make good decisions," Kellam said. "Sometimes things can stabilize quicker than we predict, but we're already dealing with funky snowpack."
Kellam said backcountry skiers should be patient and give the snowpack time to consolidate, especially during the first warm days after the storm passes.
"There's a lot of snow up high where it's cool, and the first warm day will make it unstable when the storm clears and the sun comes out," Kellam said.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
