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.

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

• 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.

• 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).

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

• 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.

• 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.

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

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

• 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.

• 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.

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

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

• 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.

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

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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

Photo: S. Grill

• 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!

• 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.