Olympics

Cooler conditions maintain generally safe avalanche conditions. Maintain typical winter travel precautions and don't linger under glide cracks that have opened in recent days. Ensure you have the skills and tools necessary to cross slopes with firm crusts.

Temperatures topped out around 42F at Waterhole, a continuation of a gradual cooling trend. High clouds thickened in the afternoon.

Without precipitation for over a week, changes to the Hurricane Ridge snowpacks have been subtle. Waterhole is illustrative of shaded locations, maintaining approximately 2 ft of snow over the last week. On shaded aspects, ONP Rangers reported a pair of thin crusts near the snow surface with faceting snow underneath. This will be worth watching as we anticipate a return to a stormier pattern at some point down the road. W-S-E aspects have thicker melt-freezec rsts.However, coverage has been drastically reduced on sun-exposed aspects and in shallower snowpack areas such as the windward sides of ridgelines. S-facing aspects are becoming highly discontinous.

While most avalanche concerns will be on the backburner given the colder temperatures Friday combined with widespread crusts, it's worth keeping the decreasing probability of glide avalanches on your mind. The reported glide activity is 6 days or older by Friday:

• A large glide avalanche was reported on 01/15 on a steep N-NW aspect on the trail to Hurricane Hill (Steep and Icy Path). The exact timing of the avalanche is unknown.
• A glide crack was observed, in North Bowl just below Sunrise Point on 01/17. The timing of the crack opening remains uncertain.

Avoid the steep slopes under these brown frowns. Glide avalanches can occur where smooth terrain or slick bedrock exists on a steep slope.

Widespread crusts remain your primary concern on steep slopes. The softening of crusts sun-exposed aspects maybe slow to materialize on Friday, and it might not occur at all. Reports of especially hazardous conditions exist where tree bombs have created slick ice and uneven surfaces in the trees. Before you move across icy steep slopes, make sure to have the proper traction and be ready to arrest a fall.  We know it's late January, but the snowpack hasn't followed the calendar this year. Shallow snow hazards are increasing once again. This will increase the risk of riding and tripping on a rock or any long, sliding fall.

Enjoy the sunshine once again on Friday! 

Weather station note: We are working with the NPS to restore communications to the Hurricane Ridge weather station.  Right now, we don't have an estimated return time.