Avalanche forecast

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Identify areas of wind-affected snow as you climb higher into exposed terrain. Consider using test slopes to check how wind slabs may react under your weight. Be careful on steep slopes and look for signs of instability such as shooting cracks. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Look for signs of wind transported snow as you gain elevation, such as sharp drifts, small cornices, and wind rippled snow. Signs of instability to look out for are shooting cracks, hollow-sounding firm snow, and whumphing collapses. If you observe any of these, steer around similar-looking areas on steep slopes. You can also check how the snow is reacting by using small, inconsequential test slopes before entering larger slopes. Use safe travel protocol, only exposing one person to a slope at a time, and never ride on top of other people. 

    Observers have noted sudden failures on a crust about 3ft down, and a 3.5ft deep avalanche likely ran on this layer above Blue Lake over the weekend.  If venturing up high, you might consider avoiding complex and unsupported terrain because of this. You can dig down and use snowpack tests to check on this potential failure layer. Deeper avalanches may still be possible, especially in areas of recent heavy wind loading. 

    (12/12/2021)

    A natural avalanche above Blue Lake likely ran on 12/11/2021. Washington Pass

    Photo: Josh Cole

Avalanche Discussion

Wind was the big story on Thursday. The mountainsides were covered in very low-density snow with minimal wind affects until recently, then the winds blew. We don't have much recent information to get a great picture of the extent of the wind damage and windslab formation, but expect to find wind slabs in various places and elevations.

On Tuesday, Forecaster Josh Hirshberg observed results that indicated avalanches could occur on weaker snow grains above a crust that formed in late November. They found this layer 30" below the snow surface on a NW aspect at 7,300ft in Liberty Bowl. An observer east of Cutthroat Peak also reported a large collapse on a southerly aspect near treeline on Monday. The deeper slab release in the photo above illustrates the type of avalanche that is possible on this layer. 

The area has picked up a significant amount of new snow in the past week.  Last Saturday was an active day on Washington Pass while it snowed heavily, and many natural avalanches up to size D2.5 were reported. 

Regions covered