East Slopes South

You’ll encounter generally safe avalanche conditions across the zone on Friday. Due to an incoming system, you may notice some shallow pockets of wind-drifted snow forming later in the day. Firm and slick travel will still be one of your greatest hazards.

A light dose of precipitation combined with moderate S/SW winds will barely be enough to increase the avalanche danger.  However, as the day progresses, you may notice some shallow, isolated wind slabs forming above treeline.  If you do notice the wind blowing the new snow, it may be a good time to start adjusting your travel plans to avoid steep, wind-drifted slopes. Look for increasing avalanche danger during the later afternoon and evening hours.  

Any new snow will likely just act as dust on crust and firm travel will continue to be your greatest challenges. With that, as you travel consider the consequence of a long sliding fall. You can mitigate this hazard by packing the appropriate gear or simply just avoiding steep, icy slopes.  

Generally, you’ll likely encounter a strong snowpack across the east-south. However, reports from the north continue to trickle in  pointing at weak surface snow existing on many shaded slopes. This near-surface faceted snow won’t be a problem right now, but it should be on your mind as new snow continues to trickle in later this week.  If you do find any weak surfaces, please let us know by submitting an observation!

Thanks for reading.