Presidential Range

A firm refrozen snowpack has created dangerous slide-for-life conditions. Exercise extra caution on steep, exposed terrain where self-arrest would be difficult or impossible. Use crampons, an ice axe, and a helmet with well practiced mountaineering skills to reduce your chances of a fall today.

Forecasters in the field yesterday found that recent warming and rain, followed by rapidly falling temperatures, had left the snowpack refrozen, hard, and icy. In most areas, the snow surface is now slick and firm. In some wind protected locations, small pockets of 1-3 inches of new snow sit on top of the melt-freeze crust, but these are limited and generally not expected to behave as a distinct avalanche problem.Slide-for-Life Conditions: When warm temperatures or wet precipitation are followed by falling temperatures that refreeze the snow surface into hard ice, making a fall on steep terrain fast, impossible to arrest, and potentially high consequenceThe primary concern today is the consequence of a fall on the current hard snow surface. On steep slopes, losing an edge or a stumble could quickly turn into a long, uncontrollable slide. Even where a few inches of new snow are found, that snow may slide on the frozen surface beneath, contributing to a fall rather than producing an avalanche. In places where terrain funnels into rocks and other exposed hazards, the margin for error is essentially gone. Conservative terrain choices will be important today.Looking ahead, frozen snow surface conditions will likely persist through the weekend. Continued cold temperatures, cloud cover, and strong winds are expected to limit softening and keep snow surfaces firm. Anyone traveling in steep terrain today or tomorrow should factor the likelihood of a long sliding fall into their decision-making.

OBSERVATIONS: Please consider submitting an observation on our website or in the new Avy phone app of what you are seeing in your travels. Submitting an observation hones your skills, informs other users, and improves our forecasts.