Avalanche Warning Issued

We’re into avalanche season. An avalanche warning has been posted for many parts of our area. Several heavy snowfalls have piled up different types of snow which makes for very unstable conditions. Experts are saying that these unstable conditions are going to be around for a long time. They urge extra caution in the backcountry, and in avalanche prone areas.  Just this past weekend there were two slides that caught five people.  One group of back country skiers triggered a slide that partially buried a woman, pinning her against a tree and breaking her leg. A snowmobiler started a massive slide that partially buried four people. That avalanche was 3 football fields wide, two long and was six feet deep at the base. That’s a lot of snow to get caught in or under.

The same avalanche conditions are prompting the Idaho DOT to daily monitor the situation along Hwy 12 over Lolo Pass. It has been opened and closed several times in the past week.