SOUTHERN IDAHO: Skiing Softly Near Galena Pass

On Tuesday, January 4th, the mountains north of Ketchum, Idaho, only had 41 inches of snow with moderate avalanche conditions. Two days later, 20-plus inches fell, and the Sawtooth Avalanche advisory put out a special announcement with NOAA stating that avalanche conditions were high even in the "urban interface" areas around Ketchum. A kid skiing the bowls on Baldy got buried after following previous skiers' tracks, but was luckily rescued within 15 minutes.

It was sketchy everywhere until this past weekend. Even though the Sawtooth Avie folks were reducing the risk back down through considerable to moderate, caution in the backcountry was paramount. I got out with Christopher Cook on Saturday up in the Galena Pass area. Everywhere we looked we saw the recent naturally triggered slides. So, we picked our way through "whomping" slopes until we found a stable aspect. It took an extra few weeks, but we finally got our New Year's champagne powder!