Watch Out Below: It’s Avalanche Time Unstable Snow Conditions Draw Warnings For Outdoor Recreation

New heavy snow on top of an already unstable snowpack means high avalanche danger in the back country this weekend.

“I wouldn’t travel in the backcountry this weekend,” said John Pucci, director of the ski patrol at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. He described avalanche danger as “high to extreme.”

Panhandle National Forests hydrologist Bob Kasun, who issues a weekly avalanche report during the winter, concurred.

“I made a ‘high’ call,” he said. “North- and east-facing slopes are of concern because we’ve had a lot of wind-loading in the last few days.”

Slab avalanches 4 feet thick have released while the Silver Mountain ski patrol has been doing avalanche control work on the mountain, Kasun said.

“I’m telling people to stay away from the open exposed slops, especially north and east faces above timberline,” Kasun said.

Wednesday’s snowstorm was heavy and intense in the mountains, although it rained in the valleys. Lower elevations in the north part of Washington and Idaho got 6 to 8 inches of snow.

Because the snowpack has stayed relatively cold, it’s been slow to consolidate. That means several layers of poorly bonded snow, Kasun and Pucci said.

All of that is on top of a very weak layer at the bottom.

“Sugarlike, rotten snow,” Pucci described the bottom layer. A week ago, Schweitzer Mountain Resort had avalanches that ran to the ground because of that weak bottom layer.

“We’ve got strong layers over weak, and that’s prime ingredient for avalanche,” he said.

Temperatures are expected to rise this weekend, and the snow level could rise to 4,000 to 4,500 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The warmer temperatures won’t stabilize the snowpack immediately, however.

Rain in the valleys is not expected to cause widespread flooding, said Brian Avery of the National Weather Service. Small mountain streams and urban parking lots are at most risk of flooding, he said.

Despite the instability of the snowpack, North Idaho has had only one reported avalanche. On Dec. 14, two Spokane skiers were caught in an avalanche near Moon Pass. One skied out, and the other was buried to his head.

However, the season already has claimed more avalanche fatalities in British Columbia than in all of last year. The Canadian Avalanche Center’s latest report said avalanche danger is “considerable to high” in the southern interior of the province.

With more people venturing into the back country, Kasun is hoping people will get educated about the risks and exercise caution.

“When the snowmobilers get off the beaten path and start high-marking, it’s like a time bomb waiting to go off,” Kasun said. “In the back country, there’s always going to be some slope out there that’s going to be hazardous.”

A free beginners back-country safety course Wednesday evening at North Idaho College drew more than 200 people. The course covered the basics of safe route-finding, avalanche safety, first aid and appropriate gear for back-country travel.

A more advanced course is scheduled for 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at North Idaho College’s Boswell Hall.

Avalanche courses are available through Peak Adventures of Cataldo, Idaho, The American Avalanche Institute and the Canadian Avalanche Association.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WEAK LINK Because the snowpack has stayed relatively cold, it’s been slow to consolidate. That means several layers of poorly bonded snow on top of a very weak bottom layer. A week ago, Schweitzer Mountain Resort had avalanches that ran to the ground because of that weak bottom layer.