Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

We're on day two of a lull before another large storm enters the region Tuesday night. The snowpack is unstable and it's likely that you can trigger a large avalanche that can kill you. There is wide variety in different areas in the zone and even on a slope-to-slope scale, so avoid all steep slopes during your outing on Tuesday.  Avoid terrain beneath steep slopes if you have any doubt. 

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    A very large, natural slab avalanches was reported on Monday in Canyon Creek and a small avalanche was remotely triggered (observation). Meanwhile, observers in the Baker backcountry reported sluffs, or small dry loose avalanches, and one small collapse. Baker patrol reported triggering large hard slab avalanches failing at the new/old interface, about 2ft down, with explosives Monday morning. Sympathetic avalanche releases occurred adjacent to the explosives-triggered ones.

    There's a lot of different things going on in the zone. Some areas received double the amount of snowfall from other spots over the weekend. Wind had minimal effect in some areas, but created touchy conditions in others.

    This isn't the time to get out into steep terrain. Avoid all slopes greater than 30°. If you're in locations where snow might still be more reactive, like Canyon Creek or other areas further west, or if you have any doubt, you may need to take a step further back and avoid runouts beneath steep slopes as well. 

    (2/26/2024)

    Very large slab avalanches that naturally occurred in the Canyon Creek area. North-facing, 5600'. 

    Photo: Allison Webster

Avalanche Discussion

Surface hoar formed last week, and was destroyed on south-facing slopes and other exposed areas, but is still out there in some spots. Other weak, faceted layers may exist, as far down as the Early February Crust, 1-2ft beneath the new storm snow layers. Some of the Canyon Creek avalanches may have failed on these deeper layers. There's uncertainty as to how reactive and widespread these layers are, but it's worth keeping in mind that there's a small chance you could trigger an avalanche that could propogate much farther and be deeper than expected.

Storm snow avalanche problems may come in all sorts of shapes and sizes:They could be wind-affected hard slabs, or non wind-affected slabs. You might just get dry loose avalanches. Some places further east picked up about 1.5 ft of snow, whereas other areas, generally further west, have closer to 3 feet of snow. Many tests that you use to detect shallower weaknesses are not useful with the deeper snow depths we received in some areas. You may not get obvious clues such as cracking or whumphing, yet you could trigger a large avalanche if you travel out on the steeps. Some slopes may slide, yet others may not. It's tough to tell right now. 

Previous to the weekend's storm, creeks and large holes were exposed up to 5000ft. The few feet of snow that's fallen on top has sneakily hidden these features, which you may still fall into. It's also time to think about tree well immersions. Most riders reported great conditions, but the take-home for Tuesday is that there's a lot of variety and uncertainty right now, so enjoy your outing while sticking to low-angle terrain. We'll only get an inch or two of snow on Tuesday, but you can expect another 2+ feet by Wednesday evening.  Please share what you saw if you make it out on Tuesday.

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