Lawinenlagebericht

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sat
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist last year abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

On Friday, you can trigger avalanches in the recent snow where the wind formed drifts and where the sun warms the snow surface. Avoid steep, wind-drifted slopes just below ridges at middle and upper elevations.  If you see recent avalanches or cracks in the snow shooting out from your equipment, stick to terrain less than 35 degrees.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    Steer around leeward, wind-loaded slopes and convexities over 35 degrees.  If you see recent avalanches or cracks shooting out from your equipment, stick to low-angle terrain. Look for sculpted drifts and feel for stiffer snow as indicators of the problematic slopes. Avalanches could be big enough to bury or kill you at upper elevations.

    Strong westerly winds will have formed fresh slabs as recently as Thursday night. You may find them lower in the terrain than usual. While less likely, watch for triggering wind slab avalanches in open terrain at lower elevations. While there's a chance of trigger avalanches in sheltered terrain, lingering instabilities in storm snow will be stubborn and avalanches should be small. Use small test slopes to see how the snow behaves before traveling on larger slopes over 35 degrees. 

    (3/13/2025)

    Crown of the same small (D1) intentionally triggered wind slab along the ridge at 5300 on an east aspect. 

    Photo: Katie Warren

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–2

    Keep an eye out for moist snow and potential for wet avalanches. You can trigger slides as snow surfaces warm and the day progresses. Between filtered sun warming the surface, and older moist layers that were buried at the beginning of the week, Friday could be uniquely sneaky wet avalanche conditions. Use extra caution if you find that the older (March 9th) interface below all of the recent snow (1.5 feet down) is still moist. You may be able to trigger deeper avalanches on very steep, sun-exposed terrain.

Avalanche Discussion

Friday will bring a bit of a break in the weather, but the danger will remain elevated. On Thursday, an NWAC Forecaster in the Lanaham Lake area reported significant wind transport and was able to trigger a wind slab avalanche on a test slope. Earlier in the week, another Forecaster found variably frozen layers under the recent snow in the Stevens Pass sidecountry and near Lake Valhalla.

On high elevation, northerly aspects, there's a chance that you could find buried surface hoar, 1-2 feet below the surface. On the 10th, observers in the Foss River drainage reported triggering isolated avalanches, which are suspiciously indicative of this weak layer. The snowpack underwent a major transition since the atmospheric river storm of February 21-25th. Significant liquid water entered the snowpack before the storm switched to snow, totaling 2 ft. This was followed by prolonged warming in early March, which further transitioned the snow that accumulated. Most slopes have multiple stout crusts and/or moist snow in the upper snowpack.

If you make it into the backcountry, please share with us what you find by submitting an observation HERE or on the Avy app. 

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