East Slopes North

Another cold and sunny day shouldn’t create any significant avalanche concerns. Instead, plan for variable travel conditions, including slick icy surfaces on sunnier aspects.

“High and dry,” continues to sum up the weather. Temperature inversions could make it frigid at the trailheads first thing in the morning, but make sure to dress in layers. Warmer air should push into the upper elevation terrain later in the day. Even with complex multiple freezing levels, light winds, and sunshine, there shouldn’t be much change to the avalanche hazard (or, lack thereof). 

If you poke around some of the higher peaks, keep your eyes peeled for small isolated pockets of wind-blown snow in complex rocky terrain. An observation from near Cascade Pass is a great example of this potential issue even during "Low" danger. These small slabs should be the extent of any avalanche concerns. 

Not surprisingly, travel conditions continue to garner most of the attention during this long dry period. Expect variable surfaces with breakable crusts, icy slopes, chalky snow, and frozen blocks. Travelers have most reliably found softer conditions in wind sheltered and shaded terrain. The trick can be getting there easily. Plan a bit of extra time to deal with the wide variety of travel challenges you could encounter. 

The last significant round of avalanches occurred a week ago on Jan 15th, when several wet loose slides released. While the current snowpack doesn’t pose much of a hazard, there is plenty of weak snow. Surface hoar and near surface/crust facets are common. You can also still see notable interfaces (1/10 and 1/1)  in the upper foot (30cm) of the snowpack. All of these layers are worth tracking as we patiently (or not so patiently) await our next storm.