Stevens Pass

Stout surface crusts are keeping the avalanche conditions generally safe. Be prepared for slick and firm travel conditions. If the sun comes out, steep, sunny slopes may soften a bit.

Surface crusts are getting thicker. Non-avalanche hazards may dominate your risk management decisions. These could include challenging travel on slick, frozen surfaces and terrain hazards like open creeks and glide cracks.

On Friday, observers reported supportive surface crusts. With daytime warming and sun, it's a good idea to check the freeze by standing on the snow without your travel equipment (skis, board, snowshoes, or machine). If you sink into wet or moist snow above the top of your boots, there's a chance that you could trigger a wet avalanche. It's worth continuing to limit your exposure to steep rock slabs where glide avalanches typically occur, especially where you see open glide cracks in the snow.

During a prolonged rain event in the last week of January, water entered the snowpack and transformed some of the layers. It reached the ground in many places. Snow has pulled away from rocks and cliffs, and glide cracks opened up. On Thursday, we visited a profile study site near Skyline Lake and found about 6ft of snow on the ground. The Solstice crust was 3.5ft down and still produced sudden collapse failures with a deep tap test and propagating test results with a propagation saw test. The solid crust capping this weak layer should be enough to make it very difficult to trigger avalanches. Information from upper elevations is still limited, and we assume less of last week's precipitation fell as rain fell there. If you plan on traveling above 6,000ft, be ready to make your own assessment of the snowpack. 

From the 28th through the 30th, observers reported numerous very large avalanches that ran naturally and with control work. Some of these slid on old, weak layers, gouged to the ground, and took out trees. 

If you make it out, please share what you found with an observation.