IDAHO, USA — The Sawtooth Avalanche Center (SAC) in Ketchum has issued a backcountry avalanche watch for Galena Summit and eastern mountains until Monday, Feb. 5 at 4 a.m. Areas under the watch are the Boulder, Smoky, Pioneer and Soldier Mountains and areas near Galena Summit which are Fairfield, Carey, Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum, Smiley Creek and Trail Creek Summit.
"The recent snow is adding significant stress to the persistent weak layers in the snowpack, and represents the first major loading event that large portions of this zone have experienced. The recent triggered slides clearly indicate that the snowpack is not reacting well to this loading. Pay attention to the terrain you are in and the terrain you are exposed to from above," the website states.
The center stated that very dangerous avalanche conditions are expected and there may be an avalanche warning listed on Monday morning. The SAC reported several large, to very large, persistent slab avalanches and expect to see more. Slab avalanches are when a bonded layer of snow settles over a previous weaker layer of snow. The center stated that large avalanches were triggered by skiers in the area in the last couple of days.
SAC stated that it expects natural and human-triggered avalanches to be more likely tomorrow morning.
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