East Slopes Central

Problemas de aludes

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alta montaña
  • Límite del bosque
  • Bajo el límite del bosque

  Probabilidad

  Likely

  Tamaño

  2–2.5

  If you're headed out into the mountain for a warm and wet day on Saturday, choose lower-angle terrain. Avoid traveling on or near large, steep terrain features. Give yourself large margins of safety from potential runout zones. One of these avalanches could run further and break wider than you may expect. A good strategy is patience and conservative terrain selection. If you experience whumphing collapses, use extra caution to avoid steep terrain. However, you may not get warning signs before triggering an avalanche. These avalanches could run as wet slabs at lower elevations, which may make them even more unpredictable.The snowpack is resting on a weak foundation. A layer of facets and decomposed crusts buried around the Solstice have continued to cause avalanches since early January. Persistent slabs are a tricky problem, often leading to a false sense of security with no apparent signs of instability. This weak structure isn't limited to the Wenatchee Mountains, but it is the area where you are most likely to trigger one of these persistent slabs. Further west, the weak structure is more deeply buried and may be more difficult to trigger. However, the warming temperatures and precipitation could be the tipping point, making these slides more likely in other areas of the zone. Since the weak layers are more deeply buried, an avalanche in these areas could be much larger, breaking 3-4ft deep. Cornice falls and smaller avalanches could also step down to these deeper layers. 

  

• 

  Loose Wet

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alta montaña
  • Límite del bosque
  • Bajo el límite del bosque

  Probabilidad

  Possible

  Tamaño

  1–1.5

  Wet loose avalanches are possible at lower elevations as rain and warming temperatures break down thin surface crusts from the past few warm days. At mid-elevations, rain may fall on dry snow for the first time, and wet loose avalanches could run earlier in the day. Wet loose avalanches often start from trees, rocks, or cliffs shedding onto the slopes below. You can also trigger one that begins from your equipment, entraining snow and gaining speed as it moves downhill. Don't let one of these wet avalanches grab and drag you into or over terrain traps such as trees, gullies, or cliffs. Wet loose avalanches could be the first sign that larger, more unpredictable wet slabs are possible. Smaller avalanches that begin loose could trigger a much larger wet slab. If you start to see rollerballs or small, wet loose avalanches, your best option is to move to lower-angle slopes until this wet storm moves on from our mountains. 

  

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alta montaña
  • Límite del bosque
  • Bajo el límite del bosque

  Probabilidad

  Possible

  Tamaño

  1–1.5

  Upper elevations may escape most of the warming, at least for Saturday, and 5-8 inches of new snow with moderate winds could form stiff wind slabs on lee aspects. Steer around steep slopes where you find pillow-like drifts. Slopes below corniced ridgelines, the base of cliffs, and confined features are likely spots to trigger a wind slab. You can use small test slopes to gauge the reactivity of these fresh slabs. But keep in mind, while these avalanches might be small, there is a risk of them stepping down and triggering a larger persistent slab.