East Slopes South

Avalanche danger is generally Low, but as the snowpack continues it's transition to spring, isolated avalanche events may occur. Use timing to your advantage, and move off of steep, complex slopes if they become mushy and unsupportable later in the day.

On Saturday, with snow showers but minimal accumulations and mostly cloudy skies, conditions should be generally safe. However, it's spring and the snowpack is undergoing it's transition from winter. During these times, snow surfaces freeze overnight, then thaw slowly during the course of the day. As the snowpack melts and shrinks back up the hillsides, various types of warming related avalanches could occur. Notably, a very large slab avalanche recently ran near the western edge of the zone in the nearby West South zone (see photo below). This slide started beneath a ridgeline as a wide avalanche then stepped down to a much deeper old layer. The character and size of this avalanche was unusual and may have been an outlier, but it still emphasizes that the mountains and specifically headwall/cirque type terrain like this are inherently dangerous. 

Other types of slides that can be lumped into general springtime 'shedding' avalanches to consider are wet loose slides, glide slabs, and cornice fall. With all of these, use timing to your advantage. As long as surfaces are supportable and frozen, avalanches are less likely. When the snowpack becomes mushy and unsupportable, consider moving away from very steep, large or complex terrain.

Last weekend, a very wet and warm storm affected the area, and it rained a substantial amount up to about 6,500ft. It has been about 4 days since the last snowfall, when the zone picked up 2-4" of new snow above 4,500ft. Significantly more snow fell near the Cascade Crest than further east. Lower elevations are melting out, and you can expect to find bare ground up to mid elevations on south aspects.