Avalanche forecast

Eastside Region

Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Triggering a persistent slab avalanche has become unlikely, though it is not impossible. Potential problem areas include steep, unsupported terrain features and areas with shallow trigger points. When in doubt, use terrain choice to mitigate your exposure to persistent slab avalanches.

 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–3

    On a regional scale, the areas where you can trigger a persistent slab avalanche have become increasingly isolated. Steep and unsupported slopes on northerly and easterly aspects, areas with shallow trigger points, and places with a generally thinner snowpack are areas to consider. Persistent Slabs challenge our patience, and managing this problem requires extensive evaluation and deliberate terrain choice. Persistent slab avalanches often propagate across and beyond terrain features that would otherwise confine surface instabilities, such as wind or storm slabs, and in some cases, persistent slab avalanches can be remotely triggered from adjacent slopes. Give yourself a wide safety margin, be wary of hazards that may reside above you, and use terrain choice to limit your exposure.

    Be cautious in extreme terrain and in areas with shallow trigger points. 

Avalanche Discussion

It has been over a week since our last reported avalanche, and field observations have generally highlighted a healing trend in the lower layers of our snowpack. As we have moved through this period of quiet weather, it has become evident that areas where a skier or rider could trigger a persistent slab avalanche have become isolated in nature. The forecast team has discussed this problem at length, and our most significant concern remains the destructive potential of an avalanche ruining near the ground. Targeted snowpack evaluations in potential problem areas continue to highlight poor structure. While they have been gaining some strength, you can still find places where these lower weak layers show the potential for propagation.Triggering an avalanche has become unlikely, however, it remains important to keep in mind that the consequences of triggering one have not become any less concerning. It may take a very large load, such as a cornice failure, or it could take a skier or rider finding just the right trigger point. The preverbal “needle in the haystack.” If you venture into extreme terrain, consider the added consequences of triggering a large avalanche. If in doubt, you can manage your uncertainty by increasing your margin for error and using terrain choice to limit your exposure.

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