East Slopes North

Avalanche conditions are generally safe. But look for isolated, small pockets of wind-stiffened snow at upper elevations where you might trigger a miniature slab. Lower elevations may have challenging travel conditions with low snow cover and potentially breakable crusts. 

There still may be a rouge pocket of wind slab where you could trigger a small avalanche at upper elevations. These would likely be relatively small, but even a small avalanche could be a rough, painful ride over shallowly buried obstacles.Expect cloudier skies and significantly cooler temperatures on Monday. The persistent inversion for the east slopes of the Cascades may strengthen, and even though temperatures will be colder overall, it will still be warmer at upper elevations. On Saturday, observers on Silver Star found favorable skiing conditions and minimal avalanche hazards. While there were some areas where winds formed stiffer wind slabs, they were largely unreactive. Snowpack depths at upper elevations ranged from 5-6ft and approximately 4ft at mid-elevations. Snow surfaces were predominantly sugary, dry snow. Near the Cascade crest, you'll find a thin, breakable crust near the surface on many slopes below 6500 ft, formed from light rain on December 10th. This crust is thinner and potentially absent in some places further east of the Cascade crest. An older crust (12/7) is about 16" below the surface. Last Thursday, the mountains picked up 1-3" of snow, possibly burying a weak surface hoar layer throughout the zone.