Avalanche forecast

Bridgeport Avalanche Center

Bridgeport Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

New snow from earlier this week caused a natural avalanche cycle as well as a remotely triggered avalanche by a person and their machine. It may be harder to trigger an avalanche, yet weak snow at the bottom of the snowpack remains. Consider your terrain choices with this persistent slab problem and give yourself a wide margin of error when navigating it. 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2.5

    Weak sugary snow exists all over the terrain in the Sonora Pass area. It has been in our forecast all week and this problem is slow to heal. The problem snow is also buried under 3 feet of snow or more and it does not show any clues at the surface. To find it, a person would have to dig to the ground or probe through the snow to the bottom to feel its presence. We have several feet of strong snow on top of weak faceted large snow grains. Until these grains heal, the problem will remain in our forecast. 

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Wind from the Northwest and West on Thursday transported snow, loading up eastern aspects. The wind doesn't blow in just one direction when it hits a mountain, it bends and curves around the mountain's features. The snow goes where the wind goes, so look for signs of fresh wind-drifted snow in and above the treeline today. 

Avalanche Discussion

The snowpack distribution has been like a checkerboard across our forecast area. Sonora Pass has the most snow and as you pull south, the distribution fades out.  The large variation in the height of snow has brought with it a large amount of spatial variability. Steep slopes on shady (Northwest to East) aspects remain suspect. As more tracks get put onto the terrain on blue-sky days, we have a natural tendency to seek out more terrain. Know that the persistent slab problem still exists, it could be difficult to trigger and carry a high consequence. 

Regions covered