{"id":21831,"date":"2024-12-25T01:31:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T08:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=21831"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:33:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T23:33:40","slug":"blaine-county-avalanche-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/25\/blaine-county-avalanche-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Blaine County Avalanche Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL<\/em><\/p>\n

Snow can be treacherous and tricky, and avalanches are a reality during the season. While there haven\u2019t been any major snow crashes in our neck of the woods in last week\u2019s snowpack, there were many warnings and one tragedy earlier this year. The Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office (BCSO) deputies have set up avalanche beacon check stations for those entering the backcountry with one at Baker Creek, in the parking space, and at Frenchman Creek near the headwaters parking area. You must double and triple-check your beacon before venturing into the great white.
\nAs a general rule, keep in mind that safety demands you steer clear of venturing below slopes steeper than 30 degrees. \u201cAvalanches can be triggered remotely from flat terrain above, below, and to the sides of steep slopes. Natural and human-triggered avalanches may run long distances and can impact gentler terrain below.\u201d As a reminder these were the biggest avalanches this year and below are the best sites to keep informed:<\/p>\n

Avalanches in Blaine County from 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2024<\/strong>
\nJanuary 10: Forest Service Sawtooth Avalanche Center in Ketchum issued a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the Sawtooth, Western Smoky, and Soldier Mountains, mountains near Stanley, Smiley Creek, Atlanta, and Fairfield.
\n.
\nFebruary 2024<\/strong>
\nFebruary 5: The Forest Service Sawtooth Avalanche Center in Ketchum issued a Backcountry Avalanche Watch warning for very dangerous avalanche conditions in The Pioneer, Boulder, Smoky, and Soldier Mountains, including the mountains near Galena Summit, Trail Creek Summit, Smiley Creek, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, Carey, and Fairfield.<\/p>\n

March 2024<\/strong>
\nMarch 1: Tragically, two snowmobilers were caught in an avalanche leaving one injured, and the other dead.
\nMarch 10: Blaine County saw multiple reported avalanches:
\nHighway 75 blocked, north of Ketchum, between Lake Creek Road and Hulen Meadows
\nWest Warm Springs Road near Sandy Lane was completely obstructed.
\nWar Eagle Road in Hailey near Red Elephant in the Della View Subdivision was blocked off.
\nAn avalanche on Indian Creek near Sioux Drive was also reported.
\nMarch 10: A home was struck on War Eagle Drive in Hailey. Residential areas are not to be excluded.
\nMarch 10: The Sawtooth Avalanche Center rated the avalanche danger in the Wood River Valley,around Hailey and Ketchum as extreme.
\nAdditionally, while not an avalanche there\u2019s already been a Winter Weather Advisory that was in effect for Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, for heavy snowfall in Shoshone, Lava Beds and areas north of Shoshone to Carey.<\/p>\n

Staying Informed<\/strong>
\nBefore you hit the trails, the go-to, up-to-date websites for avalanche monitoring are sawtoothavalanche.com, avalanche.org\/#\/current and idahopanhandleavalanche.org\/
\nCheck the area you plan to visit and be cautious even in residential areas near any slopes.<\/p>\n

Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office Reminder<\/strong>
\nA somewhat less dangerous snowy reminder from the BCSO:
\n\u201cRemove the snow from all of your vehicle\u2019s windows and roof BEFORE driving. It can fly off and startle other drivers, or worse hit their windshield blinding them causing an accident. Idaho law requires you to have an unobstructed view. \u201c<\/p>\n

Having fun means staying safe. Make this a year to remember fondly!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL Snow can be treacherous and tricky, and avalanches are a reality during the season. While there haven\u2019t been any major snow crashes in our neck of the woods in last week\u2019s snowpack, there were many warnings and one tragedy earlier this year. The Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office (BCSO) deputies have set up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,65,76,18,28,56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accident","8":"category-blaine-county","9":"category-emergency-services","10":"category-news","11":"category-recreation","12":"category-wildlife-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21833,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21831\/revisions\/21833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}