|
||||||||||
 Teton Pass Slide Map Snake River Canyon Slide Map Hoback Canyon Slide Map |
Notorious Avalanche Slide PathsAvalanches can happen almost anywhere in Teton County, and just because a slide has not occurred in a particular location or in recent memory, does not guarantee that a slope will not avalanche in the future. Although the highway over Teton Pass is closed annually because of avalanches or for control of avalanches, other roads leading into the valley can threaten the traveler. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (DOT) considers Cow-of-the-Woods in the Hoback River Canyon (US 191) "one of the most dangerous slides in Wyoming."The DOT's Galen L. Richards has compiled data for Teton, Lincoln and Sublette Counties, identifying the locations and names of nearly 70 recognized slide paths in the Teton Pass (Wyoming 22), Hoback Canyon (US 191), and Snake River Canyon (US 89) areas. These avalanches have affected highway travelers in the past, and therefore, have the potential to do the same in the future. "Daily traffic volumes continue to rise, but avalanche danger is a yearly occurrence," according to the DOT. Given the right weather and snow pack conditions, avalanches can be devastating. In 1979 two avalanches occurred in the same location in the Snake River Canyon; of the nine motorists and seven vehicles caught, three people were buried, but only one injured, according to the Jackson Hole News. Above photo, of slide on Highway near Rafter J, courtesy of the Collection of Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum, Jackson, WYoming. | |||||||||
