This is Janet Kellam of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center with your Backcountry Avalanche Advisory and Weather Forecast for Friday, December 21, 2007 at 7:30 am. Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation in partnership with Idaho's Snowmobile License Plate Program & the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center bring you this advisory. Bottom Line: Today the avalanche danger is estimated to be CONSIDERABLE on slopes of mid thirty degree slope angles or steeper. Any steep slope with additional wind drifted snow will have the greatest danger. At upper elevations in the Central and South Wood River Valley (This includes out of bounds slopes off of Baldy) and below approximately 8,500 to 9,000ft in the North Valley the newer snow lies on top of an all weak & relatively shallow snowpack. This problem will continue to plague us for some time. Above approximately 8,500 to 9,000 feet near the Salmon Headwaters, Titus Ridge and the Northern Sawtooths deeper snowpacks and generally stronger snow exists but anywhere from 1 to 2 feet of new snow showed poor stability yesterday and we expect similar conditions today. Yesterdays strong winds created new wind slabs in exposed areas that will be sensitive to the weight of a person or machine. Weekend Outlook: Careful stability evaluation and good routefinding will be needed in steep terrain Primary Avalanche Concern: Yesterday mornings rapid snowfall produced an avalanche cycle on very steep slopes at upper elevations north of Ketchum and in the Galena area. We didn't get quite enough snow closer to town to produce avalanches, but cracking and collapsing was reported during control work on Baldy. Natural avalanches were observed along Titus Ridge, The northwest face of Gladiator Peak, the Salmon Headwaters, Murdock Creeks northwest facing slopes and gullies, and off the west side of Durrance into Konrad Creek. Visibility was poor until the afternoon and undoubtedly more slides have been unreported. A few human triggered slides were observed on steep east and north facing slopes out Titus Ridge and extensive collapsing and shooting cracks occurred on lower angle slopes facing southeast and east. NEW SNOW AND WIND SLABS Most north valley slides appeared a foot deep or less and consisted of the newer snow although a few large slides in high alpine terrain indicate deeper instabilities. Today continue to watch for surface instability and for wind slabs formed by yesterdays gusty winds. Some wind slabs formed mid week and during the storm from southerly winds. Yesterday and last night winds shifted from the west and the north so all exposed slopes may have recent deposits of wind blown snow. Conditions will improve in the northern, deeper snowpack areas but it is very important to not dive onto powder slopes without careful stability evaluation. We are still concerned about the weak, faceted interface between this recent storm and the old snow surface. The Headwaters of the Salmon and the Northern Sawtooths recorded close to 3 feet of new snow and this needs time to stabilize. Secondary Avalanche Concern: CENTRAL AND SOUTH WR VALLEY, high ALPINE TERRAIN Several of the large avalanches such as Gladiator Peak and the Murdock Ridgeline broke out much deeper into extremely weak faceted snow near the ground. This very weak base to the snowpack is prevalent closer to town, at low elevations and in high elevation wind scoured areas. Due to the inconsistent depths of our early season snowpack, look for underlying weak punchy snow wherever you travel in the backcountry. This includes areas that initially appear to have a deeper stronger snowpack. Any slide on this type of snow will be large and destructive. Additional new snowfall or wind blown snow will increase the avalanche danger. Current Conditions: New snow and wind were key weather events yesterday. Galena Summit gained another 6 inches of new snow and Baldy 2 or 3 inches. Storm totals are greater for northern sections of our region with the Northern Sawtooths and Salmon headwaters gaining 2 to 3 feet of new snow this past week, Galena Summit close to 2 feet and Baldy about one and one half feet. Cold temperatures blew into our region with gusty winds and swirling snow clouds. Early morning temperatures are 2 degrees on Titus Ridge, 6 on Baldy and 12 in Ketchum. Winds are 10-15mph from the northwest with stronger gusts. Exposed areas will have wind textured surfaces, some crusty and breakable. Sheltered areas will still be deep trail breaking. Low elevations and a few sunny slopes experienced warm enough temperatures to consolidate the snow some, but shady slopes and upper elevations remained cold yesterday. Mountain Weather Forecast: Today expect gusty winds out of the north, cold temperatures and partly cloudy skies. This mornings single digit temperatures will hover below 10 degrees at 10,000feet, Baldy is expected to reach the low teens. Ridgeline winds at upper elevations will make things feel even colder. Only a chance of snow showers exists in the mountains. A small snow producing storm is expected Saturday with a series of weather systems expected to bring us additional storms through next week. Thank you, Santa Claus. Tip for the day: Watch for wildlife along the roads and in the backcountry. The snow and cold has begun and they are much more vulnerable. Give them a wide berth and don't spook them or force them to move off.