Mt Hood

As the day warms up, pay attention to how the snow surface is softening and consider moving to shadier or lower angled slopes if you’re sinking past your boots into wet, mushy snow.  Be mindful of other spring mountain hazards like navigating firm snow surfaces earlier in the day,  isolated rock/ice fall higher on the mountain, or cornice failures.

Winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with clear skies overnight, allowed snow surfaces to refreeze, especially in more wind-exposed terrain despite mild temperatures.  We can expect similar temperatures and sunshine on Thursday, although winds should be lighter.  This pattern is helping the snowpack slowly settle into a spring diurnal cycle with daily freeze and thaw. Lower and middle elevations, however, may not see the most confident, inspiring freeze reset, which may lead to wet-snow instabilities popping up earlier in the day.  Good corn skiing was reported on lower Wy'east on Wednesday afternoon at upper elevations.  

This time of year is all about timing. As the day heats up, expect increased chances of triggering small, wet avalanches where the snowpack feels wet and sloppy. Typically, the threat of these avalanches will follow the sun around the compass, beginning on east-facing slopes in the morning and moving to west-facing slopes in the afternoon. As the day warms, monitor surface conditions and boot penetration. If you’re sinking past boot top in wet, heavy snow or encountering sticky surfaces, move to shadier aspects. Starting your day early is a great way to help you reduce your chances of being out when the mountain starts shedding. Prolonged warming has also weakened cornices and widened glide cracks. Limit exposure beneath overhanging snow features, as they can fail without warning.

Since April 3rd, freezing levels have been flirting with the summit of Mt. Hood at nearly 10-11,000 ft. The first warm days came as a shock to the dry, upper snowpack, with easily triggered wet loose and even a couple of naturals reported. As high freezing levels persisted, natural wet loose mainly ran their course, while human-triggered wet loose could still be pushed in very steep terrain. On Monday, the Mt. Hood Climbing Rangers reported deeper water percolation and more stubborn wet loose than on previous days. They also found a supportable crust capping dry snow at higher elevations that broke down with daytime warming (observation here).

It's that time of year when you should keep other mountain hazards on your radar. Expect mornings to be firm with long, sliding falls being your primary concern. Pack the appropriate traction and self-arrest tools for your objective. Also, consider rock or icefall as the day heats up. The Mt. Hood Climbing Ranger page is a great resource for upper mountain planning. 

Are you heading out?  Let us know what you see by submitting an observation here or on the AvyApp.