Winds will intensify throughout the day, building fresh wind slabs near and above treeline. Predominant winds will come from the West, so east-facing slopes should be given a wide berth. You will likely find wind slabs building lower on open slopes than you might normally expect as winds will gust into the upper 40's tonight.
Avoid suspect wind loaded terrain, especially above treeline on East aspects. If you observe shooting cracks, large wind pillows, cornices, or dune-like formations you are looking at trouble.
While unlikely, triggering a persistent slab has high consequences. In locations with a thinner snowpack, the weak snow buried at the bottom of the snowpack is closer to the surface. Each time we increase the load on this weak snowpack structure, we give it a test. The wind loading that's occurring this weekend will once again test the weak persistent sugar snow layers. Get your probe out and check the snow depth in areas you plan to travel. If you can feel the Solstice Rain Crust, with sugar snow below and it measures 3-4' (up to 8' by a snowmobiler) from the surface this layer could be triggered by you.
Join the WAC at Anthony Lakes this weekend for the 9th Annual Eastern Oregon Backcountry Festival. Michael Hatch will be running some free snow safety clinics today and a ski tour into Angel Basin on Sunday. This is a great opportunity to support the WAC, even if you can't attend. We have a virtual fundraiser running now through Sunday night at 8pm, with all the proceeds helping pay for avalanche forecasting and pro observations. You can read more about the festivities here. Go to the fundraiser!
