Skiers and riders have a slight potential to trigger slab avalanches in very steep terrain at the higher elevations. Avoid steep terrain with signs of previous wind loading in cliff areas and along ridge crests. Supportive surface conditions can be misleading, therefore careful snowpack evaluation is necessary to make safe terrain choices and avoid lingering areas of instability.
Strong winds have moved transported loose snow in steep leeward terrain at the high elevations. These slabs lie upon slick sliding surfaces and could be triggered as soft slabs with depths to one foot. Be mindful that even small avalanches can carry severe consequences in unforgiving terrain.
Weak snow layers buried in November lie above 8500 feet. Recent snow, rime, and rain has left firm to hard snow surfaces and triggering avalanches involving these layers is unlikely. However, weak snow near the ground lies well preserved and in isolated areas, some potential remains to trigger a hard slab avalanche. If triggered, slab depths could range from 2 to 5 feet.
(12/11/2025)
Large recent avalanche that occurred at the end of the storm. Slab formed by wind loading looks to have failed on the persitent weak layer buried in early November.
The primary weak layer involves crusts and faceted snow that was formed in late October and buried in early November. The layer can be found above 8500 feet in north facing terrain and on more aspects as elevation increases. The stormy pattern that brought moisture from Dec 1 through December 10 produced widespread natural activity on that layer including many large to very large hard slabs. During that time, approximately 40 inches of snow fell, containing nearly 6 inches of moisture. The storm ended with fairly warm temperatures and very strong winds with rain falling to nearly 9000 feet and widespread rime above that elevation. Snow surfaces are hard crusts or very firm snow at all elevations in the morning with crusts breaking down in the afternoon depending on elevation/temperatures and direct sunlight. Digging snow pits or at the very least probing to the ground will give insights to the presence and extent of the buried weak snow near the ground. Monitor current snow surfaces as the next storm cycle could be problematic with the current slick surface conditions.
