Olympics

Firm frozen snow surfaces in the morning and on shaded aspects remain your primary travel hazard. Make sure you have the tools and skills to arrest a fall before crossing steep slopes. Don't linger beneath glide cracks or other overhead hazards.

5000 ft temperatures in the Olympics dropped below freezing Thursday night through Friday, but should warm back to temperatures and conditions experienced in the middle of the week, prior to the cooldown.

Although avalanche concerns will be minimal on Saturday, mountain hazards should not be minimized. Cold temperatures early Saturday will make snow surfaces coral-reef-like before the sun and milder temperatures soften slopes receiving direct sunshine. Widespread crusts may be firm and/or slick. Reports of especially hazardous conditions exist where tree bombs have created slick ice and uneven surfaces in the trees. Before you move across icy steep slopes, make sure to have the proper traction and be ready to arrest a fall.  We know it's late January, but the snowpack hasn't followed the calendar this year. Shallow snow hazards are increasing once again. This will increase the risk of riding and tripping on a rock or any long, sliding fall.

Waterhole is illustrative of shaded locations, maintaining approximately 2 ft of snow over the last week. On shaded aspects, ONP Rangers reported a pair of thin crusts near the snow surface with slowly faceting snow underneath. 

Glides also deserve your awareness although the meltwater necessary to drive their activity may be fading to a trickle. Glide cracks and avalanches occur when water draining the snowpack lubricates underlying smooth surfaces and bedrock. They can occur days after rainfall or warm weather.  Given a question mark regarding the state of meltwater, don't linger or eat your lunch under suspicious cracks in the slope or brown frowns. The last reported slope instability in the viscinity of Hurricane Ridge involved glides:

• A large glide avalanche was reported on 01/15 on a steep N-NW aspect on the trail to Hurricane Hill (Steep and Icy Path). The exact timing of the avalanche is unknown.
• A glide crack was observed, in North Bowl just below Sunrise Point on 01/17. The timing of the crack opening remains uncertain.

Enjoy the full sunshine and blue skies on Saturday!

Weather station note: We are working with the NPS to restore communications to the Hurricane Ridge weather station.  Right now, we don't have an estimated return time.