2020-2021 Annual Report - Sawtooth Avalanche Center

2020-21 Annual Report

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Acknowledgements

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From the Director

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Staff

7

Operations

9

Season Highlights

13

Accomplishments

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Forecast Use

17

Social Media

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Education

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Funding and Partnerships

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Snowpack Summary

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Next Season’s Goals

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Forecast Sponsors

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Professional/Agency Partners

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Significant Additional Support

PO BOX 2356 – 206 Sun Valley Rd Ketchum, ID 83340 (208) 622-0095 info@sawtoothavalanche.com www.sawtoothavalanche.com

Acknowledgments The Sawtooth Avalanche Center (SAC) could not operate in its current capacity without the generous support of our community. Thanks to all the kind souls who accompanied us in the field and/or provided us with critical information about what they were seeing during their rides and tours. The following individuals were regular contributors and/or field partners: Ed Binnie, Ryan Guess, Brad Hatch, Josh Johnson, Jeremy Lato, Mark Nagle, Deven Lewis, Terry O’Connor, Rio Pedersen, Will Richmond, Victoria Rossin, and Matt Wieland.

A huge “thanks!” goes to Ski-Doo, who in conjunction with Action Cycles ‘N Sleds in Twin Falls, loaned us a top-of-the-line Summit SP snowmobile. And Melissa Smith donated a nearly -new 2020 Polaris RMK 800 Pro! These additions to the SAC sled fleet allowed us to have two highperformance sleds in both Ketchum and Stanley.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to Kurt Nelson, Zach Poff, Susan James, Steve Frost, and Sarah Stalker. These USFS staff went above and beyond the call of duty to support the Avalanche Center.

Local ski guides and snow safety workers contributed 426 observations to our professional observations database. These reports are vital in ensuring the most accurate daily Backcountry Forecast possible. We owe a huge thank you to the guides at Avalanche Science, Sawtooth Mountain Guides, Soldier Mountain Cat Skiing, Sun Valley Guides, Sun Valley Heli Ski, and Sun Valley Trekking, as well as the ski patrols at Sun Valley and Soldier Mountain.

We receive about half of our operating revenue from the Friends of the SAC. This group of amazing, dedicated volunteers raises money through sponsorships, donations, and events.

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From the Director The winter weather patterns—and resulting avalanche conditions—seem to outdo themselves nearly every year. It’s definitely not boring in southern and central Idaho, and I doubt I’ll recognize when we experience a “normal” winter. This season, I’ll remember our weak layer for the ages; we started seeing remotely triggered avalanches as soon as it was buried in December, and it didn’t go to sleep until March. Because of the sinister winter snowpack, we had an unprecedented stretch of CONSIDERABLE and HIGH danger that persisted for the majority of the season. Tragically, a snowmobiler was killed in the mountains near Smiley Creek at the tail end of the run of dangerous conditions.

While the snowpack was consistently bad, the SAC staff, the Friends of the SAC, and the community support was consistently stellar: •

Ethan, Chris, Ben, and our intern-volunteer Mitch delivered amazing informational products and made my job easy.

•

The Friends of the SAC education program spread the Avalanche Awareness gospel like never before, and the Friends matched their previous levels of financial support despite the difficult, COVIDinduced fund-raising environment.

•

Local skiers and riders contributed way more observations than ever before—thank you!

I’d also like to extend a huge thanks to the Friends’ Board and Staff—Executive Director Steph Eisenbarth, Education Coordinator Stacey Ward, and Media Coordinator Amy David—for “kicking butt and taking names.” Additionally, thanks to all of the individuals, businesses, and agencies that help the avalanche center provide valuable public safety information. Because of your support, our avalanche center didn’t miss a beat during a pandemic. Happy adventures to all this spring and summer—be it on boards, sleds, dirt bikes, mountain bikes, kayaks, rafts, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Sincerely,

Director Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Photo: R. Pederson

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Staff Scott Savage—Avalanche Center Director Scott Savage returned for his ninth season at the avalanche center and seventh year as the Director. Prior to coming to the Sawtooth in 2012, Scott spent the better part of two decades as an avalanche forecaster and snow safety director at Big Sky Resort in Montana. He frequently contributes articles to The Avalanche Review, writes columns for regional and national websites and publications, and presents at international conferences and regional professional development seminars. Currently, Scott is a National Avalanche School instructor, President of Avalanche Worker Safety, and serves on the Advisory Board of the American Avalanche Association. He considers each day that he learns more than he forgets–as well as any day in the mountains, on rivers or oceans, or on rocks–to be a success.

Ethan Davis—Lead Forecaster Ethan began working as a forecaster with the Sawtooth Avalanche Center in 2015. His interest in snow started at Anthony Lakes, a momand-pop ski hill in rural Eastern Oregon. He attended the University of Idaho, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Geography and a minor in Mathematics. Following an interest in winter storms he earned his Master’s degree in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University. After three years in a dark lab growing ice crystals, Ethan returned to the light as a forecaster in Alaska and Colorado before making his way home to Idaho. When not in the snow, you can find him camping, hunting, and climbing with his wife and two young boys.

Chris Lundy—Lead Forecaster Chris worked at Sawtooth Avalanche Center from 2004-2012, including two years as the Director. He left to pursue other interests in the snow and avalanche field but gravitated back to the SAC in 2018. Chris earned his Master’s degree from Montana State University-Bozeman with a focus in snow and avalanche science and presented his research at three International Snow Science Workshops. Over the years, his interests have shifted from pure snow science to the far more complex field of human psychology and decision-making. He has worked in many aspects of the avalanche industry over the past 20 years, including stints as a researcher, ski patroller, educator, ski guide, web developer, and forecaster. Chris lives in Stanley and enjoys mountain travel in all of its forms.

Ben VandenBos—Forecaster After a youthful dalliance with the world of riding lifts at Bridger Bowl, Ben opened his eyes and embraced the rest of the mountains that surrounded his hometown of Bozeman, Montana. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Geology at the University of Montana in Missoula, where he also developed the masochism required for long approaches to questionable skiing and climbing while exploring the Bitterroot Range. In the following years, supported by off-season work as a geologist, Ben focused on the study of mountains and snow.

When he’s not searching out first descents, he reads, picks up rocks, skis, climbs, and drinks a whole lot of coffee. If you see him, be prepared to discuss anything from stellar dendrites to the Paleogene trans-Challis dike swarm.

Mitch Creelman—Intern-Volunteer Avalanche Specialist Mitch Creelman joined our team this season as an Intern-Volunteer Avalanche Specialist. He contributed snowpack observations, and was a great field partner. His season highlights include: snowmobile misadventures, teaching classes for the Friends of the SAC, and exploring the central Idaho mountains with the SAC forecasters. For now, he’s back to Boise State University to continue his thesis research on remote sensing based snow mapping techniques. We wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors!

The Sawtooth Avalanche Center employed four full-time, seasonal employees during the 2020-2021 winter season: •

Avalanche Center Director: Permanent Seasonal Position

•

Lead Forecaster – Avalanche Specialist: Permanent Seasonal Position

•

Lead Forecaster – Avalanche Specialist: Permanent Seasonal Position

•

Forecaster – Avalanche Specialist: Seasonal Position 6

Operations We had a veteran SAC staff this season—including Scott as Director and Ethan, Chris, and Ben as Avalanche Forecasters. While the challenges of COVID-19 prevented us from having a full intern, Mitch Creelman joined our team this season as a part-time Intern-Volunteer. He assisted us in the field while also working on a graduate degree in the Geosciences Program at Boise State University. Mitch will also be assisting us this summer as we design and refine website products.

The SAC staff spent the fall wrapping up website projects, maintaining weather stations, attending and presenting at regional snow and avalanche workshops (held virtually this year), preparing education materials, dialing in the snowmobiles, and installing the beacon park. We had planned to attend the biennial International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW) in Fernie, British Columbia in October, but this conference was also moved to an online format.

Once the winter gets rolling, SAC aims to have at least one forecaster in the field every day of the week. This season, we logged 227 field days for an average of two forecasters per day. Of these field days, 87% involved time on skis, and 33% included snowmobiles. We received 301 observations from the public—a 30% increase from last winter! Local ski guides, snow safety workers, and USFS staff contributed 426 observations to our professional observations database. We owe a huge thank you to the guides at Avalanche Science, Sawtooth Mountain Guides, Soldier Mountain Cat Skiing, Sun Valley Guides, Sun Valley Heli Ski, and Sun Valley Trekking, as well as the ski patrols at Sun Valley and Soldier Mountain. All told, we logged over 900 observations this season, 25% more than 2019-20.

In addition to field and office time related to producing the daily Backcountry Avalanche Forecast, SAC staff produced a variety of social media content, taught avalanche education programs (including a Motorized Level 1 course and a virtual version of our popular bi-weekly Digging Deeper series), maintained and repaired weather stations, and plugged away on local and national-level projects.

While the effects of COVID-19 are beginning to feel like the “new normal”, they continued to alter the landscape of avalanche safety—from how we do our jobs and the number of people using our products. Backcountry skiing and riding was more popular than ever due to the COVID-induced boom in outdoor recreation. SAC staff followed best practices for minimizing the transmission of the virus, including working remotely, moving our staff meetings and educational programs to a virtual format, and altering our field procedures.

The safe Saw

mission of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center is to provide avalanche ety information for people recreating, working, or traveling in the wtooth, Boise, & Salmon-Challis National Forests and surrounding areas.

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Season Highlights •

Our first General Avalanche Information product was issued on November 6th. Daily Backcountry Avalanche Forecasts started on December 13th and continued through April 11th. In total, we produced 120 Backcountry Avalanche Forecasts in addition to 12 General Avalanche Information updates.

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Our Forecasts received over 340,000 views via the web and email subscriptions, a 25% increase over the previous season.

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Use of the SAC website was driven by people from Ketchum, Boise, and Salt Lake City accounting for 28%, 12%, and 8% of our web traffic this season.

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We issued 8 AVALANCHE WARNINGS and 12 days of HIGH avalanche danger (compared to 3 AVALANCHE WARNINGS and 10 days of HIGH danger last year).

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Beginning the day after Christmas, 11 large, human-triggered avalanches were reported in just 12 days.

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Four skiers and two snowmobilers were involved in avalanches. One skier was buried to their waist and another sustained minor injuries.

Tragically, one snowmobiler was killed, marking the second avalanche fatality in the forecast area in the past 2 years.

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On January 29th, skiers were caught in two separate avalanches in the “out of bounds” area adjacent to Baldy. A third skier-triggered slide partially buried a vehicle near the Warm Springs base area. During the same storm, large avalanches crossed Warm Springs Rd, which remained closed for nearly a week.

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Of our 227 days in the field, we used skis 87% of the time and snowmobiles 33% of the time.

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The Sawtooth & W Smoky zone was rated CONSIDERABLE or HIGH for all but 3 days between January 3rd and March 1st.

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The fourth annual Homegrown Film Festival was recorded live on January 7th. The virtual format featured local filmmakers and athletes along with a healthy dose of stunning Idaho scenery. You can view the live recording here. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the SAC.

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•

Local professional groups contributed 426 observations, and the public sent us over 300 observations – thanks! These observations are the equivalent of employing several additional avalanche forecasters, something we can’t afford.

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SAC forecasters gave 20 interviews to local, regional, and national media outlets.

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We produced over 100 videos that were watched almost 500,000 times this year, a 600% increase in views!

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The Digging Deeper series proved to be very popular again this year with a total of 627 people watching live and hundreds more watching the recordings on YouTube.

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We recorded 16 Weekend Updates this year, one every Friday from December 18th through April 9th.

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Volunteers worked over 500 hours on Friends’ of the SAC fundraising events and over 5,000 hours in the field.

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SAC and the Friends of the SAC gave 40 educational presentations to recreational and professional audiences. Our educational programs reached over 4,000 individuals this season including over 900 motorized users across the country.

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We continued to support aspiring avalanche workers by mentoring and learning from Intern-Volunteer Avalanche Specialist Mitch Creelman.

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SAC staff were featured on the Avalanche Hour Podcast recounting last year’s magnitude 6.5 earthquake and resulting avalanches (listen). Staff gave interviews for a variety of online media outlets and appeared on Boise and Twin Falls television stations on several occasions.

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Despite an above-average snowpack by mid-November, we wrapped up our forecast season with a snowpack that was 55-80% of normal.

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Once again, the Friends of the SAC provided a huge chunk of our operating budget. The avalanche center would not exist in its current state without the Friends!

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The US Forest Service maintained funding levels for the SAC despite a difficult federal budget environment. The Avalanche Center is fortunate the USFS, the Sawtooth NF, and USFS Region 4 continue to demonstrate a commitment to providing quality avalanche information and education.

Human-Triggered Avalanches D1.5 or Larger Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr 15

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5

0

Photo: S. Grill

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Accomplishments Website Updates Our web technology experienced significant improvements this season. We added an avalanche occurrence database and added locations to all of our observational data (pro and public field reports, and avalanche occurrences). This allowed us to display observation data on a searchable and filterable map-based interface.

Taking it one step further, we developed the Trip Planner web tool —the first of its kind among North American Avalanche Centers. Users can enter a location and get all of the relevant information for their day—avalanche forecast, observations, media, weather stations, and a point weather forecast—all in a convenient, one-stop-shop interface.

M In di Fa in op

Motorized Outreach n Idaho, 23 of the last 24 backcountry avalanche fatalities were snowmobilers or snowbikers. Three snowmobilers ied in avalanches in Idaho this season, including one in the Smiley Creek drainage 8 miles SW of Galena Summit. acilitating motorized avalanche education remains a top SAC priority. SAC forecasters and Friends of the SAC nstructors reached over 900 motorized users this season through the Motorized Level 1 course, various speaking pportunities, and snowmobile club meetings.

Year Over Year Motorized Outreach

750

500

250

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21 14

Weekend Update While we’ve done them informally in the past, we published Weekend Updates every Friday throughout the season, a total of 16 episodes. These live recordings reviewed the week’s happenings and offered insight on what weather and avalanche conditions to expect headed into a weekend. Beginner to advanced recreationalists, snow professionals, and visiting skiers and riders all benefited from these simple, concise recaps on snow conditions across the forecast area.

Videos from the Field We received overwhelmingly positive feedback on our video content this season. SAC staff published 101 videos to social media—up from 40 last season. Videos were watched almost 500,000 times this year, a 600% increase in views! We focused on short, informative videos that addressed current conditions and recent avalanche activity. Concise, simple, videos reduced the formerly arduous task of video editing and allowed for more frequent and timely information from the field.

Photo: S. Ward

Forecast Use We issued our first General Avalanche Information update on November 6th and began daily Backcountry Avalanche Forecasts on December 13th, issuing 120 forecasts this season (compared to 122 last season). Our web-based avalanche safety products received 25% more use. Our email list grew yet again to top 1,500 subscribers compared to 1,250 last year. Daily danger ratings were also disseminated via Facebook and Twitter.

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

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12-13

13-14

14-15

15-16

16-17

17-18

Year Over Year Forecast Views

18-19

19-20

20-21

Email Hotline Web

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Social Media Social media plays a crucial role in communicating avalanche conditions and social event information: •

Amy David, Media Coordinator for the Friends of the SAC, continued to up the SAC and Friends of the SAC’s digital media presence. Amy’s skills in public relations, photography, videography, and social media are huge assets. Much of the success shared below is directly attributed to her efforts. Thanks Amy!

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SAC staff made a concerted effort to increase our video content. We posted 101 videos across various platforms (up from 40 last year) receiving almost 500,000 views! Two videos posted to Instagram were viewed over 60,000 times each, as many as our total views across all platforms last season.

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We continued posting the daily Danger rating to Facebook and Twitter, along with basic snow, avalanche, and weather updates.

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The SAC’s Instagram audience increased from 3,938 to 8,286 followers in the past year, surpassing Facebook to become our most watched social media channel.

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We now have 882 followers on Twitter, a 21% increase from last season.

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Thanks to the generous support of local radio stations KECH and KDPI, we aired 85 weekday morning Backcountry Avalanche Forecasts. Broadcast during the morning commute, these radio spots featured avalanche and weather information and were used to convey safety messaging during periods of elevated avalanche danger.

8,286

6,266

882

488 followers

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Education Avalanche education is a vital component of the SAC’s mission to provide avalanche safety information for people recreating, working, or traveling in the Sawtooth National Forest and surrounding areas.

Stacey Ward, the Education Coordinator for the Friends of the SAC, orchestrated general Avalanche Awareness outreach for schools and recreational groups. SAC forecasters handled professional-level training, specialty talks such as the Digging Deeper series, and the Motorized Level 1 Course. During the 2020-2021 winter season, this two-pronged approach delivered 40 presentations to reach over 4,000 people (up from 3,200 people last year).

The SAC continued its emphasis on motorized user outreach and education by providing live and virtual avalanche education opportunities to motorized users throughout southern Idaho. SAC forecasters and Friends of the SAC instructors reached over 900 riders this season (up from 600 last season).

Scott moderated presentations for CSAW and the American Avalanche Association (AAA). He also

4,000

# Students

SAC forecasters presented for professional groups on 14 occasions. Ben presented his talk titled “Earthquakes and Avalanches” at the Northwest Snow and Avalanche Workshop (NSAW) as well as the Colorado Snow and Avalanche Workshop (CSAW). Ben and Chris provided avalanche education to USFS staff in Idaho City. Chris and Scott assisted as instructors for the Pro 2 Avalanche Course held near Galena Pass.

5,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

12-13

13-14

14-15

15-16

1

Year Over Year E

16-17

presented for the Sun Valley Ski Patrol on Baldy.

Ethan gave a presentation to the Blaine County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and provided training for Friends of the SAC instructors.

In its third season, the Digging Deeper discussion series returned to wide acclaim. The bi-weekly series featured 11 talks and reached over 600 people. Presentations were broadcast live via ZOOM and recordings are available on our YouTube Channel.

These talks targeted intermediate to advanced backcountry users looking to add some tricks and knowledge to their playbooks. We discussed a wide range of topics including spring skiing, weather phenomena, earthquake-induced avalanches, decision-making, avalanche rescue, persistent weak layers, and more. A virtual format enabled guest presentations on ‘Wet Snow Avalanches’ from the National Avalanche Center and ‘Group Management for Motorized Users’ from the Sierra Avalanche Center.

# Classes

40

20

0 17-18

Education

18-19

19-20

20-21

The pandemic forced us to restructure the format and delivery of our avalanche education.

The shift away from classroom-based teaching proved to have valuable benefits as well as drawbacks. A virtual learning environment provides the opportunity to collaborate with speakers irrespective of location. It also broadens our viewership base and allows us to record our presentations. The shift to live online streaming of our education material was met with an enthusiastic start, but was followed by a steady decline in audience numbers throughout the season. “ZOOM fatigue” seemed to set in as a larger portion of our daily lives moved online.

Moving forward, we’re excited to return to more engaging in-person presentations, but we’ll continue to record our talks for a remote audience.

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Funding & Partnerships The SAC relies on a variety of partnerships and collaborative relationships. Over half of the Center’s budget comes from the Forest Service and BLM. Despite a difficult fiscal environment, the USFS Region 4 and Sawtooth NF maintained our funding this year; this support shows their continuing commitment to public safety. The Ketchum Ranger District also provides extensive office and administrative support and maintenance facilities. Through an ORMV grant, the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation contributed $27,950 to fund the 4th forecaster position.

The Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center (501c3) are the critical private partner in our mission; the center would be a mere shell of it's current self without their efforts and support. The Friends’ contribution covered a large portion of the payroll expenses for 2 of our 4 full-time Forecasting positions as well as our intern’s equipment and room & board expenses. They funded all of the summer website improvements we made. In addition, they provide snowmobiles, weather station equipment, funds for website and IT maintenance, safety and field equipment, educational supplies, forecaster training, etc. Thank you Friends!

Local guiding operations and the National Weather Service Pocatello office are also major avalanche center partners; their “in-kind” support is key to our success.

The Sawtooth Avalanche Center is a glowing example of a successful public-private partnership.

The Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center raise funds through sponsorship, private donations, grants, and fundraising events. The Friends’ success is indicative of strong community buy-in and support of the Avalanche Center’s mission.

SAC BUDGET - INCOME: $233,150.00 $5,000.00

SAC BUDGET - EXPENSES: $233,150.00

Labor: $199,270 (85.5%) Office & Admin: $10,000 (4.3%) Weather Station Ops: $5,300 (2.3%) Trucks: $5,000 (2.1%) Snowmobile Ops: $4,330 (1.9%) IT & Office: $3,600 (1.5%) Uniforms, Tools, & Safety Gear: $3,150 (1.4%) Training: $1,750 (0.8%) Misc: $400 (0.2%) Intern: $350 (0.2%)

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Snowpack Summary October storms deposited the season’s first snowfall in the high peaks, which lingered into November on the high, shady slopes of our northern mountains.

From November 7th-19th, a series of storms dropped several feet of snow in the mountains. Mountain temperatures warmed to near 40F towards the end of the cycle, providing a dense base for early -season backcountry skiing—and even snowmobiling. Folks were talking about the possibility of a record-setting La Niña season!

But wait—not so fast! These storms were followed by 3 weeks of dry conditions, clear skies, and relatively cold temperatures. This drought produced an especially weak and widespread persistent facet layer that plagued us for most of the season. Daily Backcountry Avalanche Forecasts began on December 13th, and then 1-2’ of new snow falling from December 15th through Christmas finally loaded the weak layer. Avalanche Danger increased to CONSIDERABLE and HIGH on December 21st, and we issued our first Avalanche Warning of the winter for the Sawtooths & Western Smoky and the Banner Summit zones. Small avalanche cycles in our northern zones occurred on December 17th, and December 26th, and a widespread cycle occurred December 20th-21st.

Photo: C. Marshall

The New Year rang in with a multi-day storm that ramped up on January 4th, dropping 1-2’ of snow. January 4th brought HIGH avalanche danger and an Avalanche Warning for all four zones.

During this storm, 51 avalanches larger than D2 (big enough to bury or injure a Photo: Blaine County

person) were recorded in our new avalanche occurrence database. Six to 12” of dense snowfall and warm temperatures January 12th-13th once again prompted HIGH danger in all zones, and another Avalanche Warning for the Sawtooths & Western Smokys and Galena Summit & Eastern Mtns zones. This storm produced 63 avalanches D2 and larger.

Avalanche conditions calmed down until late January, although the danger remained MODERATE to CONSIDERABLE due to the December persistent weak layer. On January 26th, the largest storm of the winter smashed into our area, with a bullseye squarely on the Southern Mountains. The Sun Valley Ski Resort recorded over 4 feet of uncharacteristically low-density snowfall from the 26th-29th, with nearly as much falling in the town of Ketchum. The Soldiers picked up over 3 feet, and the rest of the forecast area received 2 feet. This storm broke the camel’s back, especially in the Southern Mountains that had yet to receive a significant load on the December weak layer. The avalanche danger was HIGH for 5 straight days (excluding the Banner Summit zone), and we issued an Avalanche Warning that lasted for 3 days. Once the skies cleared, over 50 avalanches D2 and larger were observed; many more likely occurred during the storm. Most of these avalanches ran on December facet layers, although some ran on the weak snowpack surfaces (facets, crusts, and surface hoar) that existed prior to the storm.

The snowy pattern continued through February. Small storms rolled through early in the month, and measurable precipitation occurred each day from February 11th26th. This nearly constant trickle of snowfall heavily favored our Northern and Western Mountains, where more than 4 feet of snow accumulated over this period.

While visibility was a challenge during the

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storm cycle, we saw a few avalanches that failed on the mid-pack weak layer that was buried in late January. Avalanches were most prevalent where the layer consisted of surface hoar (primarily around Banner Summit) and a facet/crust combination (mainly in the Sawtooths & Western Smokys). Tragically, a snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in the Smiley Creek drainage on February 19 (read the accident report). The avalanche broke about 3 feet thick on the mid-pack facet/crust layer. During the month of February, the Sawtooths & Western Smoky zone was rated as CONSIDERABLE for 25 days, HIGH on one day, and MODERATE the remaining 2 days.

In contrast to February, March was exceptionally dry. Only 18-24” of snowfall was recorded during the month, spread out over several small storms. Our first major warm-up of the winter occurred in early March, producing many wet loose avalanches and one very large wet slab in the Sawtooths. When the temperatures cooled on March 7th, the danger across the forecast area dropped to LOW for the first time since mid-December. A few of the small storms were accompanied by wind, resulting in the threat of wind slab avalanches. A major wind event occurred late in the month, but by that point, firm snowpack surfaces left little snow to blow around. By and large, conditions were fairly stable during March—quite a juxtaposition to the winter up to that point.

The first half of April proved drier yet, with only a few inches of snow recorded as of April 15th. A major warming event during the first week produced one day of CONSIDERABLE danger, otherwise, conditions were rated as MODERATE or LOW. We produced our last Avalanche Forecast of the season on April 11th. As of mid-April, the snowpack in the forecast area is just 55-80% of normal. With the December facet layer still lurking near the base of the snowpack, the threat of wet slab avalanches still exists if we experience a major warming event later in the spring.

DANGER BREAKDOWN HIGH 9.2%

CONSIDERABLE 44.2%

LOW 15.8%

MODERATE 30.8%

Sawtooth & Western Smoky Zone

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Next Season’s Goals •

Work with the Friends of the SAC to secure recurring funding for our 4th Forecaster position.

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Host in-person education events (fingers crossed!) while using technology to stream and/or record our presentations.

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Continue to work with other U.S. avalanche centers on shared web tools and products, focusing on weather data visualization tools. These joint projects are a more efficient use of financial resources and provide a more uniform user experience from one avalanche center to the next.

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Refine current web products and create new interfaces to provide easily understandable avalanche, snow, and weather information for novice through advanced users.

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Develop additional online tutorials for our newer web products.

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Work with the Friends of the SAC to maintain the volume and quality of our online video offerings.

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Work with the Friends of the SAC to increase local avalanche awareness offerings, especially to K-12 students and the Spanish-speaking community.

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Continue to make inroads with, and increase outreach to, the motorized community, which makes up 23 of Idaho’s last 24 backcountry avalanche fatalities.

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Continue our outreach efforts in Idaho Falls and other Snake River plain communities to provide basic avalanche education and an avalanche and weather information-sharing platform for eastern Idaho recreationists.

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Increase our connection with the Boise motorized community.

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Continue to encourage an increase in both quantity and quality of public observations.

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Continue work on ongoing technology transfer and research projects to benefit both avalanche professionals and recreational users.

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Work on our riding skills—we’re getting better, but no one is wondering if we are pro riders!

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Forecast Sponsors

Professional/Agency Sponsors

Significant Additional Support Melissa Smith

Wattis Du

Nancy Eccles & Homer M. Hayward Family Found

Nicholas Martin Jr Family Foundation Thomas & Michelle Praggastis

Joyce Gordon

The

umke Foundation

dation

Rebecca Wilkinson & The Marshall Frankel Foundation Abbi & Frank Gould

Beverly & Michael DeChevrieux

e Rendle Family Charitable Foundation 30