Lawinenlagebericht

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Tue
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

After a long period of spring-like weather and snow conditions, shift your mindset back to new snow problems. By the end of the day, small wind slabs will have built up in exposed upper-elevation terrain. If you see long shooting cracks from your equipment or recent slab avalanches, steer around downwind slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1

    2-3 inches of new snow are forecasted for Monday, which will be blown around and form slabs potentially twice as deep at upper elevations. There is some uncertainty as to how well current snow surfaces will refreeze before snow begins to fall. If slabs form over slick, refrozen surfaces, then they could be surprisingly easy to trigger. On the other hand, if new snow falls on warm, moist surfaces, the bond will be significantly stronger. You can check the bond by digging small hand pits and pulling on blocks of snow to see how easily new snow wants to slide on the previous surface.

    Wind slabs typically form just below ridgelines and along gully walls (cross-loading). Watch for blowing snow, freshly formed wind lips, and textured/uneven surfaces to clue you into where slabs may have formed. Although not very big, a small slab could sweep you off your feet and carry you into terrain traps below. With numerous exposed obstacles in the snowpack, the consequences of an uncontrolled fall are increased.

    (1/5/2026)

    On Monday, small but sensitive wind slabs, much like this, may exist by the end of the day.

    Photo: Payton Schiff

Avalanche Discussion

Don't hang up your skins to dry quite yet! A wintery weather pattern change is upon us. Freezing levels will slowly drop to around 4000 ft by the end of the day on Monday, and will continue to drop as more significant snow totals impact the forecast region on Tuesday. Increasing wind from the west will accompany this storm track, but is not expected to exceed moderate speeds on Monday. 

The snowpack at middle and lower elevations will likely be wet and mushy thanks to rainfall. We don't expect enough rain to completely unglue the snowpack, but monitor surfaces as you travel. If you are sinking past your boot tops, avoid slopes steeper than 40 degrees. Don't linger under cornices or cliffy terrain where wet snow could fall. Even with slim chances, the consequences of being hit by something falling from above could be significant.

The most recent observations come from Stevens Pass Mountain Resort and a snow professional skiing nearby on Sunday. SPMR reported a 6-inch thick melt freeze crust that was boot supportable first thing in the morning. The snow professional reported warming on southerly aspects and being able to push small amounts of surface snow with limited entrainment by mid-afternoon. On the 11th, an NWAC forecaster near SPMR found less than an inch of soft, moist snow on the surface over a foot of solidly frozen crust. On the 8th, an observer on Rock Mountain reported supportive, but softening surfaces and thick crusts in the upper snowpack. The last natural wet avalanches were reported to have run on the 6th where skiers triggered wet loose avalanches on the south aspect of Lichtenberg Mountain. 

Reports indicate snow cover on most southerly slopes below 5800 ft is becoming discontinuous. Prepare for low snow cover, open creeks, and other obstacles, which create various travel hazards.

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