Storm Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Likely
- Size
- 1–2
Numerous avalanches were observed on Tuesday. All of these were small, but large avalanches are possible. Most of the avalanches were rider triggered, but I saw natural avalanches as well. With so little wind, it was another day when sometimes it was hard to tell whether avalanches were Wind Slabs or Storm Slabs.
The key on Wednesday will be evaluating the snow in the terrain you are choosing to ride. On Tuesday the snow was so wonderfully light that even less steep slopes were riding great, so that is a good place to start your riding and do some assessment. I saw both Loose snow avalanches and Slab avalanches on Tuesday. Below treeline avalanches will be smaller. If we start to see the wind moving snow, then avalanches in wind blown snow could be large. As is often the case in the Oregon Cascades, steep slopes below ridgelines warrant caution.
For the most part, observers have been unable to find the weak layer of snow that we would associate with last week's surface hoar (2/14, buried 25-40 cm down). Nor have we seen unusually large avalanches that might hint at this weak layer. Today I did see some shooting cracks on a north slope at 7,200 ft. that seemed to be failing on this layer. I'm going to keep it on my radar for a bit longer, and add a bit of a margin to my terrain selection on north slopes near treeline.