Lawinenlagebericht

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sat
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 3 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Avalanche danger is easing, but winds may drift some snow around during the day. Use caution in very steep, complicated and extreme terrain where a small slide could have dire consequences. At lower elevations, warming snow surfaces may lead to pinwheeling on steep slopes. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–1.5

    Wind slabs that formed Tuesday night into Wednesday and were reactive on Wednesday have become more and more difficult to initiate. Still, if you found the right spot, triggering a small slab wouldn't be impossible. This would likely be at mid and upper elevation slopes that have been loading from recent winds. The higher, steeper, and rocky slopes are where you'll want to look out for potential instabilities. 

    Look for wind-textured snow like dunes and ripples at the snow surface to help you spot where the wind has been at work. Slabs may overlay weaker snow above or between crusts on shaded aspects. Choose your route with some caution, especially if finding cracking or observe active loading.

    Use small test slopes and look for signs of instability like this before committing to steeper slopes.

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

Another round of easterly winds should blow through the pass all day on Friday. Temperatures have been on a slow rise for a number of days now, and may limit the amount of drifting that occurs especially at mid and lower elevations. At these lower elevations, watch rollerballs and the potential for small wet looes sluffs to occur as temperatures rise. If the sun comes out at all then these may become easier to initiate in a jiffy. Consider steering around steep and consequential slopes if you find moist/sticky snow and active sluffing. 

Since the 21st, Stevens Pass picked up about 12" of new snow. About half of that fell on Christmas night. On Tuesday morning, Snow safety at Stevens Pass Mountain Resort reported fairly widely propagating slabs just 2-6" deep with control work, and some dry loose sluffing. Conditions settled out fairly quickly during the day, and became less reactive later. Other observers found minimal instabilities, but the sun had warmed steeper south facing slopes and sent pinwheels into action. Travel conditions and coverage have improved substantially, but its still thin. Beware of hitting exposed rocks, stumps, and creeks.

On most slopes, the most recent crust was buried on December 22nd. On steeper due south slopes and some open terrain, the crust is a stout combination of rain and sun events from the past couple weeks. Elsewhere, the upper snowpack is a series of thin, brittle crusts and weak, faceted layers beneath the 12/22 interface.

Stevens Pass Ski Area is open. Check uphill policies HERE. You can contribute to the forecast! Let us know what you found by submitting an observation HERE. 

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