Avalanche advisory issued

Snow enthusiasts beware: This isn’t the weekend to go backcountry exploring.

An avalanche advisory warns of treacherous conditions in the Idaho Panhandle that could bring snow toppling down on backcountry skiers, hikers, snowmobilers and others looking to enjoy the near-record snowfall in the Inland Northwest over the past week.

“Even if you’re thinking about going to a state park or tromping around the hills in your area, be careful,” said Kevin Davis, director of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest Avalanche Center in Sandpoint. “It’s a great weekend to watch the Super Bowl.”

Four avalanches within 12 hours Thursday and early Friday closed a 75-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 12 from Lowell to Lolo Pass – the main arterial from Lewiston to Missoula. Authorities say it could be as long as a week before it reopens.

The fastest detour is north on U.S. Highway 95 to Coeur d’Alene, then east on Interstate 90 to Missoula – an extra 65 miles.

“Unfortunately, there’s just no easy way around it,” said Mel Coulter, an Idaho Transportation Department spokesman. “It’s going to result in a major inconvenience.”

The avalanches, which Coulter said measured as large as 20 feet high and 100 feet across, stranded a dozen tractor-trailer rigs unable to turn around on the two-lane highway and pushed a loaded but unoccupied lumber truck into the Lochsa River. No one was hurt, and ITD workers took the stranded drivers to Kooskia, about 73 miles east of Lewiston. Their trucks will stay on the highway until it clears, Coulter said.

An ITD avalanche expert is traveling from Boise to assess the situation. Until he arrives, “we’re not even letting our own people go close,” Coulter said. “They’re not minor slides.”

National forest land surrounds the closed stretch of highway, so no homeowners or businesses are marooned.

The avalanche danger has been building all season, Davis said. “We’ve got unique conditions this year in that we started with a very light, weak snowpack,” he said. “Now we’ve got warming conditions and wind, which will only add to the instability.”

The advisory doesn’t apply to ski resorts, where crews handle avalanche control and monitor slopes.

“We make sure that it’s safe to the skiing public to the point that we expose ourselves to any potential hazards before we open,” said John Pucci, Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s ski patrol director. “There’s no messing around with this.”

But they patrol only within resort boundaries.

“It’s not a good weekend for experimenting,” Davis said. “It’s a weekend to really, really be careful.”