Central Cascades

The snowpack is very shallow in the Oregon Cascades.  As a result, avalanches are unlikely.  It is always worth considering avalanches if you happen to find snow that is continuous enough to ride on and steep enough to avalanche.  These patches of continuous snow are few and far between right now.

The volcanos have been snow covered and beautiful for over a month now.  Closer inspection reveals less than stellar riding conditions.  Today I toured up to Broken Hand, and it was hard (though not impossible) to find continuous snow for nice riding.  We don't have much at all in the way of snow below 7000 ft.  Above 7000 ft. I was seeing an average of about 4 inches.  At higher elevations, I found some deeper wind drifts that provided a few turns, but they alternated with windward slopes that were scoured down to rocks and grass.