Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Strong winds and additional snowfall will maintain dangerous avalanche conditions across the zone. Wind-loaded terrain will be the most sensitive, but still be mindful of steep, open slopes in more sheltered terrain that could harbor lingering storm instabilities. You can reduce your chance of triggering an avalanche by sticking to sheltered slopes below 35 degrees that offer excellent powder riding. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Strong SW winds have built sensitive wind slabs across the eastern mountains. Due to these strong winds, you may find these wind slabs further down slope or on mid-slope convexities. With continued overnight loading, expect these slabs to be most sensitive during the morning hours. 

    These slabs will often lurk on the downwind sides of ridges, below cornices, or beneath cliffbands and in gully features. You can use visual clues like blowing snow or looking for rippled, textured surfaces to help you identify where the wind has been at work. Shooting cracks under your feet or machine are good reasons to dial it back. Give steep, wind loaded features another day or two before jumping into bigger terrain. 

    Additional Discussion:

    You may find continued reactivity within the new snow, especially in the western reaches of the zone. Be sure to check for storm snow instabilities by using small test slopes or snowpack tests before committing to steeper features or unsupported slopes in more sheltered locations.  Storm slabs were reactive on Saturday in the West South zone. 

    (3/14/2025)

    Dune-like drifts arund Darland Ridge. Visual clues like this can help you idenftify where wind slabs lurk. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

So far, this has been a pretty good pattern for the mountains around the East South. On Saturday, snow totals ranged from 8 inches around Darland Mountain while areas closer to Chinook and White Pass picked up 15 inches. The common theme across weather stations was the strong SW winds. No matter the location, there is easily enough snow and wind to create dangerous avalanche conditions across the zone. This was noted by one skier traveling on the border of the West South. The skier reported heavy drifting and whumphing and triggered a small storm slab in sheltered terrain. You can check out their full observation here.

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