West Slopes South

A solid overnight freeze combined with cold temperatures, moderate winds, and minimal new snow should result in generally safe avalanche conditions. However, it’s spring and there are lots of twists and turns the snowpack can take. Be ready to change your plans if you find signs of unstable snow.

A little “storm” Friday night into Saturday shouldn’t bring enough new snow to create any real hazard. However, it will have a big impact on the avalanche danger, namely, creating low hazard. Even still, spring avalanche forecasting is tricky, and there are still plenty of nuances and “if-then” statements, even in a Low forecast. 

The biggest “if” is the overnight freeze. Cold temperatures and mostly clear skies in the evening should help any wet surface freeze solid and put lingering wet loose avalanche concerns to bed. If the snow surface doesn’t freeze,  you may still trigger or see natural wet loose slides. The most likely way this scenario plays out is if sunshine in the afternoon weakens the surface, resulting in wet sticky snow deeper than your ankle. 

Even though it’s cold, all the water moving through the snowpack won’t stop in an instant. Shed-style avalanches are still possible, particularly from rocky faces where the snowpack is thinner. This isn’t a problem to assess, but more, be aware of and plan your travel accordingly. Pay attention to the terrain above you and don’t linger under overhead hazards like snow-covered rocks or looming cornices. 

The sun will probably come out Saturday afternoon. It won’t take long for the new snow to become wet and run downhill. This will probably simply be parades of rollerballs or tiny wet slides running on the crust. However, if there’s more snow, they could be slightly larger. 

At the highest elevations of our forecast zone (~8000ft), there could be a few pockets of wind drifted snow from Thursday night. At these elevations, 6+ inches of snow likely fell. Be leery of pillow-like drifts in very steep or rocky terrain. If you travel above our forecast area, don’t expect the generally safe conditions to follow you. It could be a different, much more wintery world up there. 

Finally, travel conditions continue to get more and more challenging, especially at lower elevations. Patches of bare ground, open creeks, holes around rocks, and tree debris make things more difficult than normal. Ah springtime in…. simple, yet so complicated.