Avalanche forecast

Northwest Mountains

Crested Butte Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 6 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Skiers and riders continue to trigger loose dry avalanches on a daily basis.  In areas with a shallow and sugary snowpack, these sluffs are gouging to the ground and will drag you over rocks and stumps if you get caught.  To find higher quality and safer riding conditions in steep terrain, plan your tours for areas where the snowpack is deeper and stronger.  You'll find these conditions further from the Crested Butte inversion and towards higher elevation terrain.  

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    On very steep terrain sheltered from the sun and wind, you can easily trigger sluffs where the snow surface is loose and cohesionless. This skier triggered slide on Schuylkill Ridge on Thursday highlights the problem.  In the Northwest Mountains, loose dry avalanches have been smaller and easier to manage, entraining just surface snow in the upper snowpack.  They can still present a hazard if you get pushed into trees or rocks, so be mindful of terrain consequences in terrain steeper than about 37 degrees.  

Avalanche Discussion

Observations of more skier triggered loose snow avalanches came in yesterday, suggesting the problem continues to expand to more near-treeline locations and further away from the epicenter of Crested Butte.  On steep, shaded terrain closer to town (the Southeast Mountains), sluffs are entraining all or most of the season's snowpack, leaving few options for descending safely after they scour away the snowpack down to bare ground.  Yesterday, our forecast team was assessing conditions above the Climax Chutes and ski cut numerous facet sluffs that were large enough to seriously injure you if you got caught in one.  I'll quote the intern: "It's kinda sketchy up here."  Certainly, in longer running terrain like that, the problem gets larger. But given the shallow snowpack in these areas, the consequence of getting dragged down by even a small avalanche on a smaller slope are worse than mid-winter.  Faced with managing pushy quicksand conditions over rocky groundcover, it was an easy decision for us to enjoy low angle ridgelines on our way back.  Our travel advice for the Southeast Mountains is to evaluate the snow and terrain carefully: heightened avalanche conditions exist on specific terrain features.   Further from town in the Northwest Mountains, observers are also reporting skier triggered dry loose avalanches on shady, sheltered aspects. The problem isn't as widespread, and it isn't as dangerous because the slides aren't gouging to the ground.  It's more of a business-as-usual sluffing problem: a relatively easy problem to manage and avoid, but still a threat if you get pushed around in consequential terrain.  Our travel advice for the Northwest Mountains is to watch for unstable snow in isolated areas: avalanche conditions are generally safe.  

Regions covered