West Slopes South

It will take more than a little sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures to develop any avalanche issues. Instead, the firm, sometimes icy, and variable travel continues to pose the biggest danger. It may take longer than expected to deal with these challenging conditions.

Looks like another chilly start to the day on Sunday. Sure some sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures will help it feel more spring-like, but it’s not likely to soften the snow in any meaningful way. The best chance at softer spring-ish snow will be on steeper south-facing slopes and on Mt Saint Helens where warmer air could creep in and help the process. In general, the snowpack is “locked-up.” 

Shaded terrain continues to hold pockets of shallow soft snow, but they're often disconnected and interspersed with crusts and icy slopes. If you head towards the upper end of the forecast zone (~8000ft), you could find a few isolated pockets of wind drifted snow. These should be a few days old and hard to trigger. If they fail it will most likely be in very steep or cliffy terrain. This is the same type of slopes that carry huge consequences for even tiny avalanches. 

If you're using the spectacular weather to push higher up the volcanoes, remember, it may be a different world up there. The Low danger might not carry to those upper elevation slopes above our forecast area. 

Travel conditions still top the list of hazards. “Variable” seems to be the most common word used to describe the current state of affairs. Expect rugged frozen surfaces under the trees and at lower elevations. Icy slopes, breakable crusts, and pockets of softer snow out in the open aren’t much better. Down on Mt Hood professionals continue to report “slide for life” conditions where even a simple slip could turn into a long uncontrollable fall. Add piles of avalanche debris, open creeks, and frozen tracks and you have all the makings for, at best challenging, and at worse dangerous travel. 

Avalanche professionals in the West South zone didn’t note any appreciable softening on southerly slopes Saturday. They mainly talked about firm surfaces, old frozen rollerballs, and occasional pockets of softer snow on shaded aspects. 

There’s not much of a concern in the snowpack currently. Instead, our focus is on the surface and any snow above the 1/10 crust. Sparkly surface hoar and near surface facets have been reported. We’ll keep an eye on these weak grains as we patiently await our next storm.