SANDPOINT, Idaho — Many people are heading out to the snow this winter. With the cold weather ramping up, so is the risk of avalanches. But there are extra precautions you can take before braving the cold.
This time of year is busy at the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. For Chris Bilbrey, it is also his first year as the IPAC director.
“We had a lot of snow starting in early November,” Bilbrey said. “Usually by this time of year early December, mid December, we have a complex enough snowpack in the mountains that it requires a lot of days in the field.”
2024 is the first year IPAC hired a full time director to oversee the Selkirk, West Cabinet, East Cabinet and Purcell Mountains as well as Silver Valley.
“With the growing demand on recreation in the area and more frequent accidents, I think the communities in the forest as a whole recognized they needed more of a permanent position to oversee the program,” Bilbrey said.
In early 2024, four people died across Idaho and Washington due to avalanches. Another man died in Idaho earlier this week.
Bilbrey said there are precautions people can take before heading out to the snow.
The most important thing you can do before heading out is to check the avalanche forecast.
“Equally as important as checking the forecast is getting some sort of avalanche education,” Bilbrey said.
That education looks like knowing what triggers an avalanche and rescue training.
“Having the appropriate avalanche rescue gear, beacon, shovel, probe, all of this is really a holistic package to be able to travel in the back country with snow on the ground,” said Bilbrey.
Bilbrey said IPAC wants everyone to be able to enjoy the mountains and having up-to-date safety information is how it does that. You can find that information on the IPAC website here.
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