West Slopes South

The mountains and snowpack certainly look and feel more like May than mid-January. Frozen slopes in the morning generally soften in sunny terrain during the day. This same melt-freeze cycle is keeping most avalanche concerns at bay.

A week of warm, dry, and sunny weather sent the snowpack through numerous melt-freeze cycles. At this point, despite the continued hot temperatures, most of the wet avalanche concerns have run their course. There’s just not much left to fall down. Sure, maybe a rogue cornice or small chunk of snow could shed, but this should be very isolated. 

Expect firm surfaces in the morning. In some spots, it may be icy and incredibly slick. Long uncontrolled falls are possible for the unwary traveler. The snow surface should soften on sunny slopes. However, high thin clouds and/or a cool breeze could keep some terrain firm longer. Areas that stay in the shade, mainly on the northern half of the compass dial, probably won’t soften at all. 

The last several days, many travelers reported nice spring, dare we say corn, snow on smooth southerly slopes. If the snow surface gets wet and sloppy, there’s a chance you could push a small loose wet avalanche in very steep terrain, but this will probably take some real effort. 

Many of our weather stations haven’t dropped below 32F since January 11th, eight days ago! The warm and sunny weather has taken quite a toll on the snowpack. Large patches of bare ground, exposed rocks, random holes, open creeks, and tree/bushes galore make travel challenging. Be careful of fragile alpine plants poking through the patchy snow cover. Stick to snow or maintained trails whenever possible.