Idaho maggot call out-Devils Bedstead

[Blurred]

Maybe not the gnarliest, but I want to see a TR on it.
Drive up trail creek road and get it done. I want to see lots of pics. thanks.

[Lone Star]

how far from the Wyoming/Idaho border near Teton Pass?

[The Reverend Floater]

We'll be up there. Not accessible yet, though. Me, jimmypage and a few others will hopefully give that area a run come late May/early June. Brett--you seen the snowfall amounts this year here? You'd get a kick out of it. Unsano!

[ski_faster]

We'll be up there. Not accessible yet, though. Me, jimmypage and a few others will hopefully give that area a run come late May/early June. Brett--you seen the snowfall amounts this year here? You'd get a kick out of it. Unsano!

Let me know Reverend I will be down.

[midget]

We'll be up there. Not accessible yet, though. Me, jimmypage and a few others will hopefully give that area a run come late May/early June. Brett--you seen the snowfall amounts this year here? You'd get a kick out of it. Unsano!

How about the flows on the Payette and other popular rivers this year. Boating out there is going to be insano scary for a while!

[ski_faster]

How about the flows on the Payette and other popular rivers this year. Boating out there is going to be insano scary for a while!

I floated the Main Payette on Friday and it was flowing at 10,400CFS it was higher the week before, but there is a lot of snow still left.

[Blurred]

We'll be up there. Not accessible yet, though. Me, jimmypage and a few others will hopefully give that area a run come late May/early June. Brett--you seen the snowfall amounts this year here? You'd get a kick out of it. Unsano!

Wow, didn't know you guys had so much snow. If you guys want to get after it earlier, you can go the long way Carey>Arco>Mackay. It's just TC pass that gets closed. (you probably know that)

I spent a lot of time on the North Fork of the Big Lost growing up. We had a cabin up there with a killer view of the Bedstead. I remember one time when the military had a CH47 Chinook helicopter up there to extract some guy that beatered down the face of it. That left a long lasting impression on me that I've never forgotten.

Please take lots of pics, I look forward to it.

[midget]

I floated the Main Payette on Friday and it was flowing at 10,400CFS it was higher the week before, but there is a lot of snow still left.

Sounds like a shit ton of fun!

[mtnjam]

mmm....Devils Bedstead that's a great area. Let me know when you go

huge cirques and high peaks...


s_f....I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it over to LRP to ski it this year

....it's a mountain, it'll wait

[ski_faster]

No problem Mtnjam. We will get it done some other time. Keep Leatherman in the back of your mind. Its coming up.
Jimmy Page and Reverend Floater check your PM. Lost River Peak is calling.

[Blurred]

Still waiting for this TR to happen....anyone?????

[adimmen]

This may require a spring roadtrip. I have a few other lines I'd like to hit in that general region.

[easyrdr]

Still waiting for this TR to happen....anyone?????

aren't you in the area-go git'er That pic is fucking money btw.

[Blurred]

aren't you in the area-go git'er That pic is fucking money btw.

I would be totally down, but I don't know what the snowpack is like up there right now. Sun Valley mags? Thoughts?

[ski_faster]

Pulled from Sawtooth Avalanche Center. Lets go to Brundage tomorrow and ski some side country.

Today the overall avalanche danger is estimated to be MODERATE, but there are localized areas of CONSIDERABLE danger on steep recently wind loaded slopes.
The snowpack is currently not very trustworthy in my opinion. This is due to a highly variable early season snowpack, the presence of persistent weak layers and recent widespread wind activity. Slope by slope evaluation should take place as you move through the backcountry.

Today’s forecast calls for 2 to 4 more inches of new snow in the high country accompanied by light to moderate northwesterly winds. If the weather forecast pans out expect further wind slab development and increasing danger on wind deposited slopes.

The South and Central Valley still have a rather thin snowpack which is generally very weak throughout. Steep wind loaded terrain in the South and Central Valley could still produce an avalanche with the right trigger.

The North Valley, Salmon Headwaters and Sawtooth Mountains have a generally deeper and stronger snowpack, but persistent faceted grains can still be found in many locations. Solar aspects, ridgelines and exposed high elevation terrain in these areas likely have large grain facets near the bottom of the snowpack. The near surface facets that developed in mid December are likely slowly gaining strength, but are still present. Additionally there is now around 2 to 3 feet of newer snow sitting on top of that potential weak layer.

Over the last week we have seen a few wind events blow through our forecast area. Christmas Eve saw a wind event that seemed to affect almost all exposed slopes regardless of elevation. Be aware of recently deposited wind slabs, especially in areas with an overall thin weak snowpack and along steep exposed ridgelines. Many of these wind affected areas will be visually obvious at least until they get buried with a few inches of new snow. Other clues to their presence are texture changes, supportable hollow sounding slabs, cracking, whumpfing and recent natural releases in similar terrain.

Additional Discussion
As I mentioned earlier in this report the snowpack is currently overall not very trustworthy. The snow pack varies a lot depending where you go. For instance the Sawtooth Mountains have a much deeper and generally stronger snow pack than the South and Central Valleys. Reports from the Soldier Mountain area suggest that they received more snow in the last week and a half than the Ketchum area did however they typically also receive more wind.

There are certainly places folks can go right now and find reasonably safe snow to recreate on. However if folks were looking to get involved with an avalanche, there are areas in which that could also happen. Slope by slope evaluation, conservative decision making and good mountain travel techniques should remain a priority.
Over the last week we have seen a few wind events blow through our forecast area. Christmas Eve saw a wind event that seemed to affect almost all exposed slopes regardless of elevation. Be aware of recently deposited wind slabs, especially in areas with an overall thin weak snowpack and along steep exposed ridgelines. Many of these wind affected areas will be visually obvious at least until they get buried with a few inches of new snow. Other clues to their presence are texture changes, supportable hollow sounding slabs, cracking, whumpfing and recent natural releases in similar terrain.

[Natedogg]

Is the road to Wildhorse open in the winter?

[ski_faster]

I have been looking into this one a lot lately. I will send an email or two and see how far you can get back on the Trail Creek road. I don't think Wild Horse Road is plowed but a snowmobile from the Mackay side might make things a lot easier.

[griffmastar]

Trail creek road is closed about a mile north of sun valley lodge. The best bet is definetly to go from the mackay side on sled up to the base as trail creek road has some pretty gnarly slide paths on it.