Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago.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

Look for signs of drifting such as textured surfaces, and dense slabs as you gain elevation. Seek information about how wind slabs react before entering larger features. Near and below treeline you are much less likely to trigger any avalanches. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Another round of wind and a little new snow may add to some of the recently formed slabs at the highest elevations. Any triggered slabs are likely to be shallow, but theres also a chance that avalanches break about a foot deeper, on weak snow overlying the slick MLK crust. Be especially cautious near ridges, on open steep slopes, and convex rollers in the alpine that could serve as likely trigger points. Look to identify slabs through textured and rippled surfaces, and stiffer snow. With these, look for signs of instability as you travel such as long shooting cracks, and consider using small test slopes to gain more information on how the snow is reacting. If you observe signs of unstable snow, steer around steeper or more consequential features.

    (1/27/2023) Whitepine Cirque and some wind drifting. Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

Observers reported an inch or two of new snow in the zone on Saturday. The recent snow was generally well bonded to the underlying surfaces, mainly a thin sun or temperature crust. You might expect a fair amount of 'wind hammered' snow at upper elevations by Sunday. Sheltered slopes that are out of the sun may still hold nice soft snow. On Friday, I found about 3" of new snow in the Skyline vicinity and it was bonding well to old, moist surfaces. A few places of fresh drifting did exhibit some minor cracking on test slopes. We've been finding an average of about a foot on top of the slick MLK crust, which was translucent ice in most places observed. Small faceted grains just above this crust were the weak layer in tests, and tests showed some potential to propagate. On Wednesday a skier triggered D1.5 slab that ran on this crust. 

Further down in the snowpack, you might be able to find a surface hoar layer from January 4th. Avalanches on this layer are not expected, though we're still tracking it.  It is often found about 1.5-2 feet below the surface and between 5,800-6,500ft in wind sheltered terrain on the east side of the zone. On the 19th, skiers triggered a large avalanche 1-2 feet deep on Jim Hill on a NE aspect at 6,200ft. In the neighboring East Central zone, there were multiple observations, including large natural avalanches running on this layer during the middle of January.

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