This is Janet Kellam of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center
 with your Backcountry Avalanche Advisory and Weather Forecast for
 Friday, January 25, 2008 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
 steep slopes in the Central and South Wood River Valley and Smoky
 Mountains. We received up to 9 inches of new snowfall since yesterday
 accompanied by strong southeast to southwest winds. New snowfall and
 wind slabs will be a concern.

 MODERATE danger exists in the North Valley and Sawtooth Mtns with
 CONSIDERABLE danger on steep wind loaded slopes. The more northern
 region of our forecast area received less new snow but steady winds
 created new sensitive windslabs during the storm. Additional wind
 slabs will be likely to form throughout the day in all regions.

 Weekend Outlook: Heavy snowfall and strong winds are forecast for
 Saturday night through Sunday. We expect the avalanche danger to
 increase in all locations, especially in the Central and South valley
 and areas with a shallow weak snowpack. Of note: Human triggered
 avalanches will become increasingly likely before we begin to see
 natural avalanches.

 Primary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 Winds blew from the southeast shifting to the southwest by this
 morning, averaging 20 mph at upper elevations with gusts near 40mph.

 Wind speeds were less in the valleys but did blow and drift snow
 during the afternoon at some lower elevations. Chris reported thin but
 very sensitive wind slabs forming along ridgelines in the Sawtooth
 Valley yesterday.

 Weve got plenty of light snow to blow around. Expect to find sensitive
 windslabs throughout the day, especially on more northerly facing
 slopes. Cracking windslabs may propagate into larger slides where the
 new snow accumulation has been greatest and the underlying snow is the
 weakest, which is in the southern part of our region.

 Secondary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 The new snow may or may not be enough to tip the balance in sheltered
 locations, but will certainly produce avalanches today in areas with
 wind drifted snow. Our recent cold, dry spell severely weakened the
 old snow surfaces or left us with hard wind slabs and icy crusts. All
 are poor surfaces for new snowfall to bond to. Today with daytime
 heating and any sunshine on the new snow expect the chances of
 triggering an avalanche to increase.

 The presence of sagebrush poking out all over many of the warmer
 aspects may promote a false perception about the stability of the
 nearby snowcovered slopes. The next few storms are going to open up
 much of this Central and South valley terrain to oversnow travel for
 the first time this year so here is a special heads up.

 As a reminder to not trust slopes adjacent to sage exposed slopes Ive
 posted an old photo from 1976 of when a 16 year old snowmobiler was
 buried out a Hailey side canyon and miraculously recovered alive. He
 was found 2 feet deep, his sled ended up 10 feet deep due to the
 terrain trap. Youll notice a lot of sagebrush in this picture.

 Additional Concerns: The North Valley and regions with a deeper
 snowpack have shown better stability within the pack but we do expect
 poor bonding of the new snow to the old snow surfaces. Avalanche
 conditions in our northern sector may not become as widespread and
 volatile as closer to town, but the sporadic nature of the buried weak
 layers in this region make it difficult to determine just which slope
 will be avalanche prone for deeper slides and which is not.

 Current Conditions:
 Youve got to love that southwest flow. Baldy, Ketchum, the western
 Smoky Mtns. and southern portions of our area received 9 inches of
 light dry snow. The Galena Summit area appears to have received 5 to 7
 inches, with more snow out Titus ridge and less in the Sawtooth Mtns.

 This should be enough to cover up the inconsistent and crusty snow
 surfaces weve been plagued with.

 Winds blew from the southeast shifting southwest this morning and have
 quieted down this morning but already appear to be increasing in speed
 with gusts in the 20mph range.

 The storm came in cool and fell onto cold snow surfaces. This mornings
 valley temperatures are 17 to 20 degrees, the warmest they have been
 in days. Upper elevations are staying cool in the single digits. You
 can expect the new snow to get heavier feeling and pastier in all but
 the cold shady locations as the day progresses.

 Mountain Weather Forecast:
 Today will be a brief break before a larger storm kicks in late
 Saturday lasting into Sunday. Cloudy skies and scattered snow showers
 are forecast for the day with no real accumulation of new snow.

 Winds will be from the southwest to west blowing 10-20mph, so we'll
 continue to see wind drifting of the new snow. Temperatures should
 reach 15 degrees at 10,000ft and near 20 degrees at 9,000ft on Baldy.

 Saturday will remain cloudy and unsettled but the storm is not
 expected to arrive until late in the day.

 Tip for the day:
 Avalanche Awareness Week is next week. We will be hosting a free 1
 hour avalanche awareness program at the Hailey Community Campus room
 301, Tuesday evening from 7-8PM and a free beacon training clinic on
 Saturday from 1:00 to 2:30 at the Avalanche Rescue Training Park on
 Sun Valley Road. Check our Friends website for details.

 http://www.sawtoothavalanche.com/friends.php