East Slopes North

The few inches of recent snow shouldn’t pose much of a hazard. At worst, it might form a small rogue wind-drifted pocket or pile of rollerballs in very steep rocky terrain.

Our prolonged period of generally quiet weather has limited any avalanche concerns. The few inches of new snow from Tuesday added a nice fresh coat of paint to the mountains, but that’s about it. 

Moderate ridgetop winds may have drifted snow into a few very isolated slabs in steep, cliffy terrain. Similarly, with warm temperatures at upper elevations, you could see a few rollerballs. In both cases, any slide should be very small. Just don’t let one catch you by surprise in high consequence or extreme terrain. 

Low avalanche danger doesn’t necessarily mean a strong snowpack. As we head into a more active weather pattern, understanding where potential weaklayers are and are not can be very important. 

Look for buried surface hoar, near surface facets, and/or a thin breakable crust buried 1-5 inches (3-12cm) deep. The crust was often seen near Washington Pass below 6500ft. It may be absent or thinner further east and near sparse trees. Deeper (12-18in, 30-45cm) in the snowpack, you’ll find the more prominent and robust 12/7 atmospheric rive crust. This layer is a good marker to help track changes in snowpack depth over the terrain.