This is Matt Lutz of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center
 with your Backcountry Avalanche Advisory and Weather Forecast for
 Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 7:30 am.

 Blaine County Search and Rescue & the Friends of the Sawtooth
 Avalanche Center bring you this advisory.

 Bottom Line:
 Today the avalanche danger is estimated to be MODERATE. This means
 human triggered avalanches are possible. Overall most slopes in our
 forecast area are stable, however areas of potentially unstable snow
 do exist. Areas of unstable snow can be found along steep recently
 wind loaded ridgelines, in high alpine terrain, on steep exposed rocky
 slopes and in areas of thin snow cover with sugary weak snow at or
 near the ground.

 Primary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 Sundays windy storm affected many exposed slopes and ridgelines,
 depositing snow primarily on southerly aspects. On Monday there were
 both human triggered and natural avalanches observed as a result of
 Sundays wind.

 This morning there is an increasing wind trend out of the southeast
 that may start to load northerly aspects at higher elevations.

 As you travel through the backcountry be alert for and avoid areas
 with recently deposited wind slabs. Most recent wind deposited slabs
 are likely sitting on top of a layer of weaker snow.

 Secondary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 In the South and Central Valley the snow pack is just plain thin and
 weak. In most locations there is not enough firm snow to create a
 slab. The exception to this is terrain with recently wind deposited
 snow along steeper exposed ridgelines.

 In the North Valley, Salmon Headwaters and Sawtooth Mountains there is
 a generally deeper and stronger snow pack. But with that said there
 are still lingering weak spots to be found. These spots include steep
 rocky terrain, high alpine terrain, and areas with highly variable
 snow cover. The common denominator for these areas is weak sugary snow
 near the bottom of the snowpack. To avoid areas with potential
 problems look for uniform terrain that has a consistent and generally
 deeper snowpack.

 Outlook Along with the previously mentioned buried facet/sugary snow
 layers, there is also a near surface facet layer developing in most
 locations. This layer is not currently a problem; however it will not
 bond well with new snow and will remain a weak layer to watch.

 Additional Discussion A strong inversion has built in over our
 forecast area allowing temperatures at elevation to warm considerably
 while keeping valley bottoms quite cold. Although high elevation
 temperatures have remained below freezing there has been an
 approximately 20 degree jump in overall temperature. This rather
 sudden temperature increase will likely add stress to the snowpack in
 the short term.

 Current Conditions:
 Soft snow riding conditions exist in locations that were not affected
 by last weekends wind. Ketchum is currently under clear skies. The
 inversion has kept valley temperatures down right chilly but upper
 elevation ridgeline temperatures are in the mid 20s. The wind is light
 to moderate out of the southeast with occasional stronger gusts.

 Mountain Weather Forecast:
 Today expect mostly sunny skies with ridgeline temperatures in the mid
 to high 20s. The winds will remain light to moderate out of the south.

 A southwesterly flow will start to usher in some Pacific moisture by
 late Thursday and into the weekend. This moisture may turn into a nice
 productive storm with the best chance of substantial snowfall from
 Friday afternoon through Saturday.

 Tip for the day:
 Never trust a facet.