Boletín de aludes

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Peligro de aludes

Wed
Alta montaña
2 · Moderado
Límite del bosque
2 · Moderado
Bajo el límite
2 · Moderado
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Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 6 months ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

There’s still a chance of triggering a large avalanche that could break widely across terrain and catch you off guard, though these buried weak layers appear to be becoming less reactive. Avoid steep, wind-drifted slopes—especially at higher elevations—and favor smaller terrain features and lower-angle slopes to reduce your chances of triggering a large avalanche.

Problemas de aludes

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Possible
    Tamaño
    1–2

    Persistent slab avalanches remain possible, though they are becoming less likely as buried weak layers slowly adjust to recent loading. These avalanches could still be large and break wider than expected, making careful terrain choices important. Avoid large, steep slopes, and continue to give cornices and the slopes below them plenty of space.

    Recent winds overloaded weak layers in the snowpack, which resulted in both natural and human-triggered avalanches over the past several days. While activity has decreased, there are still recent reports of occasional collapses, cracking, and propagating test results. Weak layers of facets and surface hoar buried about 1.5 feet deep remain widespread across aspects and elevations, meaning triggering one of these scary avalanches is still possible, particularly on large, open slopes.

    (2/28/2026)

    This is a photo of a large, natural avalanche in the Stevens Pass zone- which you might still be able to trigger: A wide crown (D2) above Crescent Lake, between the summit of Rock and Howard mountains. E, 6,300ft

    Photo: Josh Hirshberg

Avalanche Discussion

On Thursday, February 26th, a skier was fully buried in an avalanche at Stevens Pass Resort. Despite a long burial time, the skier was successfully rescued by Stevens Pass Patrol and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The avalanche occurred on a wind-loaded northwest aspect near 5,3000ft and likely ran on a persistent weak layer over a crust, 15-20" deep.DiscussionWe had considerable uncertainty around how the prolonged warmup impacted the weak snowpack. So far, to our knowledge, there hasn't been a large uptick in large slab avalanches. Peak sun and warming happened on Monday, and now we're into a slight cooling trend, with light precipitation beginning Tuesday afternoon. Only about a tenth of an inch of water will fall, during the day, and snowlines will slowly drop to 5500ft, so it'll be a light rain for most of us. 

Feb 25-27th, a large wind event loaded slopes, and natural and triggered avalanches occurred across a range of wind-loaded slopes over 30 degrees. At upper elevations, there is evidence of several widely propagating avalanches that we suspect failed on these persistent weak layers. Two people were caught and carried in separate slab avalanches, and observers reported natural and triggered avalanches running to the uppermost (2/8) crust. Whumphing collapses were reported, and we've seen several pit test results still indicating weaknesses. We suspect the weakness is adjusting and getting a little harder to trigger, at least until another large load is applied- like possibly the half inch of water coming in Tuesday night. 

A layer of facets, including the 2/13 surface hoar, is now buried 10-18" deep, and the 2/8 crust is down 12-20". The weak layer exists on most slopes. It's was most problematic first on southerly aspects, and more recently, where it's been buried under stiff wind-drifted slabs. About 2ft below the surface, you'll find a more stout, thicker crust with additional weak snow adjacent to it. Upper elevations will likely have a greater separation between crusts, with potentially more weak layers.

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