East Slopes Central

Recent snow and wind in the Wenatchee Mountains formed small pockets of wind drifted snow where you could trigger an avalanche. Upper elevations near ridgelines and in steep, confined terrain features are the most likely spots for these lingering slabs. You should approach steep, extreme terrain cautiously, where a small avalanche can have high consequences. 

Another trickle-in of snow overnight and into the morning on Tuesday is possible. Winds will be light, so we don't expect this to be enough fresh snow to increase the avalanche danger. Your primary concerns should be lingering small pockets of wind slabs at upper elevations and challenging travel everywhere. Slick crusts, avalanche debris, open creeks, and thin coverage will add impediments to your mountain travel. Make sure to bring appropriate equipment for these conditions. 

At the lower end of our forecast elevations, below 3500ft, you might find deep, wet snow in some locations. If you are sinking below your calf into wet, heavy snow, you might want to stick to lower-angle slopes to avoid wet avalanche problems. If the sun pokes out in the afternoon, in areas where a few inches of snow rests over a thick crust, you could see some sun-induced rollerballs or small wet loose avalanches. 

On Sunday, I was out in the lower elevations of the Salmon La Sac area. The new Early February Crust is 6-7 inches thick and supportable even at very low elevations. There was some surface hoar over the crust in shady spots, but it had melted away on most of the westerly aspects I traveled. In the Teanaway drainage on Friday, we found widespread surface hoar and near surface facets above the Early February Crust. These weak surfaces make for good sliding surfaces, and wind slabs or very small storm slabs may be touchy. Use test slopes and quick hand pits to observe how the new snow reacts. If it slides easily, avalanches are more likely. 

The avalanche cycle from January 21st through February 1st was impressive and long-lived. We are still looking for old crowns and avalanche debris to understand the full extent of this warm, wet storm. On January 28-30th, many natural and skier-triggered, very large avalanches (D2.5-3) were reported throughout the zone and in neighboring zones. Slides on Big Chiwaukum Mtn and Tumwater Canyon ran to the ground (see photos below). Forecasters at the Holden Mine reported natural wet slab and wet loose avalanches to size D3 on the 27th and 28th. Control at Stevens Pass ski area triggered very large (D3) avalanches that ran on the Solstice Crust 3ft deep. On Sunday, a skier triggered a 2.5ft deep and 200ft wide wet slab that ran on weak layers near the ground at Mission Ridge. One skier was caught, carried, and lost their skis, but luckily reported only a knee injury. If you find evidence of a large or very large avalanche that we haven't logged in our avalanche observations, take a photo and let us know by submitting a public observation!