Stevens Pass

Another cold, clear night in this persistent dry weather pattern will continue to limit most avalanche concerns. More impactful hazards will likely be the variable and challenging travel required to access pockets of soft, dry snow at upper elevations. Saturday will start with very cold temperatures and breezy conditions, so bring some extra warm layers. 

Saturday will be cold, with temperatures in the mid-to-low teens at many locations and additional wind chill factors from a moderate breeze. With this combination, don't expect much softening of the icy surfaces on southern slopes. Consider bringing extra layers for warmth, along with ice axes and ski or boot crampons to prevent long, sliding falls. Temperatures will moderate during the day and gradually warm further on Sunday. 

On Friday, I was out in the backcountry near Stevens Pass Ski Area and found soft, dry snow on sheltered northern aspects. Finding these areas takes a bit of tenacious searching, but the sunny skies make the days enjoyable regardless. You will likely need to travel through rough and icy conditions under the forest canopy to access upper elevations and then find those elusive areas without a firm wind crust. Southern slopes might be smooth with supportable crusts, but they'll likely be quite icy, and slips and falls could be dangerous. Eastern and Western aspects have breakable crusts of varying thicknesses to navigate. 

The snowpack on sheltered northerly aspects is weakening. The upper snowpack consists of a layer of surface hoar buried by a dusting of snow over about 1ft of surgery facets resting over the 1/10 melt-freeze crust. A layer of well-developed facets directly over the 1/10 crust produced inconsistent but unstable test results in a snow profile near Stevens Pass on Friday. The next storm is a ways out, but these layers could be problematic with future loading events. 

If you get out in the mountains, let us know what you see by submitting an observation HERE or via the Avy App.