Presidential Range

A firm refrozen snowpack has created dangerous slide-for-life conditions. Exercise extra caution on steep, exposed terrain where self-arrest would be difficult or impossible. Use crampons, an ice axe, and a helmet with well practiced mountaineering skills to reduce your chances of a fall today. 

Slide-for-Life Conditions: When warm temperatures or wet precipitation are followed by falling temperatures that refreeze the snow surface into hard ice, making a fall on steep terrain fast, impossible to arrest, and potentially high consequence. At the highest elevations, about 2 inches of new snow combined with strong west winds may have formed small, isolated wind slabs in east-facing upper-elevation start zones. These slabs are expected to be thin and likely stubborn, but if triggered they could knock a person off balance and lead to a sliding fall in steep terrain.The more widespread concern today is the hard refrozen snow surface. Yesterday’s warmth and wet precipitation were followed by falling temperatures overnight, refreezing the snowpack at middle and upper elevations into firm, icy surfaces and creating widespread slide-for-life conditions.When the snow surface is this hard, a skier, hiker or climber who falls will accelerate immediately and may have little or no chance to stop. Above rocks and other exposed hazards, that can quickly turn into a high-speed collision with severe consequences. In steep terrain, margins for error are essentially zero. Conservative terrain choices will be very important today, especially in places where a fall could carry a person into rocks below.

Looking ahead, frozen snow surface conditions will likely persist through the weekend. Continued cold temperatures and cloud cover are expected to limit softening and keep snow surfaces firm. Anyone traveling in steep terrain today or this weekend should factor the likelihood of a long sliding fall into their decision-making.

(3/27/2026)

Temperatures at Hermit Lake climbed to 45 F yesterday before falling overnight to 28 F this morning, refreezing wet snow surfaces. Temperatures are expected to continue dropping through the day.

OBSERVATIONS: Please consider submitting an observation on our website or in the new Avy phone app of what you are seeing in your travels. Submitting an observation hones your skills, informs other users, and improves our forecasts.