East Slopes South

While there is a low likelihood of triggering an avalanche, always monitor your surroundings for signs of instability, such as shooting cracks. Exercise caution in very steep alpine terrain where small, isolated pockets of unstable wind-drifted snow may exist. Avoid these textured, pillow-like slabs if you see signs of unstable snow.

Expect temperatures to warm up further on Wednesday, with the potential for sunny skies in the afternoon. This weather combination may make wet loose avalanches on steep south aspects possible. Look for warning signs such as rollerballs and moistening snow surfaces to identify an increasing possibility of wet loose avalanches. 

There is little snow left to transport onto lee aspects, and recently formed wind slabs are likely gaining strength and will be difficult to trigger. However, where these slabs formed over slick crusts in alpine terrain, you could find a rogue wind slab and trigger an avalanche. Any avalanches would likely be small and isolated to steep terrain features at high elevations, but even small avalanches could have high consequences in extreme terrain. Observe how wind-drifted snow reacts before committing to steep consequential slopes. 

A storm on January 28th brought 4-6" of new snow to the area with strong winds. On south aspects, this new snow fell over slick sun crusts and may have bonded poorly. At higher, more exposed locations, the strong winds formed stiff "wind board" and wind slabs on various aspects. While soft snow exists in sheltered areas, you may be more likely to find challenging travel conditions on these breakable and slick crusts. 

We traveled in the Ahtanum Meadows area last Friday and found a generally deep snowpack with a few layers of concern that we are monitoring. At 6700ft, the MLK crust is approximately 1.5" thick, supportable for boots and snowmobiles. While the 1/4 surface hoar is buried and obvious beneath this crust, it is unlikely that you could trigger an avalanche on this deeper weak layer. We did identify a layer of weak faceted snow above the MLK crust at higher elevations. However, test results and other observations did not suggest a widespread problem on this layer. We are still tracking it as a potential layer of concern with additional snow.

If you get out into the mountains of the East-South, let us know what you see by submitting a public observation!