West Slopes North

Some level of avalanche danger can still be encountered in backcountry travel. You could find small slabs of wind-drifted snow at upper elevations. Sunbreaks and near-freezing temperatiures can still produce small wet avalanches. Stay tuned into weather conditions and don’t overlook the few places you could trigger or be caught in an avalanche.

It's unlikely you will find an avalanche in the next few days, but if you do, it would probably be one of the following scenarios . . .  

1) You are in a place with more than a few inches of dry snow on the ground. Moderate winds drifted snow onto leeward slopes, where it formed pockets of shallow wind slab. You ignore signs of active or previous wind transport, dive right into a steep start zone with no stability information like test slopes or hand shears, and manage to trigger one. Hopefully, it's small enough that you don't go for the ride. If you do, you hope there are no consequences in the runout, like rocks, trees, crevasses, or huge cliffs.

2)  The sun defies expectations and breaks through the clouds, or temperatures warm a bit more than forecast. You start to see active signs of instability, like rollerballs and pinwheels. Disregarding these observations, you travel across a steep slope below rocky terrain that is shedding snow. A bit of snow falling from a small cliff is enough to start pushing more wet snow down the hill towards you. Re-read the last two sentences of scenario #1.

In addition to loose wet and wind slab avalanches, cornices and cliffs shedding blocks of snow are also a hazard. A large cornice on Table Mt in the Baker BC failed and produced a D2 avalanche. It’s unlikely you will be in the way when a sketchy-looking cornice or glide slab hanging on in steep terrain decides it’s time to come down, but it still happens. Minimize time spent below them.

Observers in West North and Central found anywhere from 2-6" of new snow at mid-elevations. The amount of wind-affected snow varied, with only minor amounts observed farther south in West Central versus lots of wind scouring at upper elevations farther north.  No reactive wind slabs were found in either location.  About 4" of wet new snow and extensive rollerball activity were reported at low and mid-elevations on Eldorado in North Cascades National Park.