Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
Auf der Karte ansehen

Lawinengefahr

Sun
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
Open full map
Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 8 months ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

The new snow just keeps stacking up across the West South. Any steep open slope is suspect given the recent weather. You can use smaller slopes and lower angled terrain to enjoy the new snow and reduce your risk.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    We don’t know a lot about the new snow, more is on the way, and there’s some variability across the zone. Not surprisingly, our confidence is a bit low. However, there are a few places to hang your hat. The hazard generally lies within the new snow sitting over the most recent crust (12/18). The danger will be greater as you gain elevation, enter wind loaded terrain, or find areas with more than 12-15 inches of new snow. 

    Small slope tests, hand pits, and uptrack tests should be quick and easy ways to look at the most recent snow. However, make sure you're testing all the way down to the crust. If you find it cracking and failing as a slab, steer away from steep open slopes. If it sluffs off, expect loose dry slides. In both cases, avalanches could run far and fast over the crust. 

    An avalanche may be larger and easier to trigger in wind affected terrain. Anticipate slightly stiffer slabs along exposed ridges, below cornices, and near the base of cliffs. Wind features like drifts and textured snow should point toward likely loaded areas.

    (12/19/2025)

    Handpits can help highlight potential failure points in the upper snowpack.

    Photo: Andy Harrington

Avalanche Discussion

It’s great to see snow depths growing all around the West South zone. With more snow on the way, it looks like that trend will continue. Thursday’s warm-up pushed rain to at least 6000ft, forming a new crust (12/18). Since then temperatures cooled, and snow returned to even the lowest trailheads. As of Friday afternoon, storm totals across the zone ranged from 6 inches near Crystal and Paradise to a foot at White Pass and Mt Saint Helens. We could see another 6-15 inches by the end of Saturday!

The current snowpack contains three parts: the new snow over the 12/18 crust, a mid-pack of dry snow over the mid-December crust, and lower frozen AR ‘snow.’ While our attention is on the upper snowpack, we don’t have a lot of data, and the season is still young. 

While snow depths have increased, it’s still early season. Even accessing recreateable snow is tricky. Expect open creeks, random holes, exposed rocks, shallowly buried bushes, and tons of small Christmas trees, making travel more challenging than normal. 

The weather over the past few weeks has been extraordinary, with torrential rains, extreme winds, flooding, and landslides. Many communities are dealing with damage to homes, infrastructure, and businesses, stretching resources thin. These events have limited access to the mountains for all of us. State and local resources are working diligently to reduce the worst of these impacts. We can help by being respectful of local communities, obeying road closures, and heeding ski area uphill travel policies.

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