West Slopes North

Avalanche danger remains on Low. A slow, steady increase of snow at mid and upper elevations means small avalanches aren't completely out of the question, so don't let your guard down. Expect a thin snowpack with many exposed obstacles at lower elevations, and firm crusts that will start seeing a bit of soft snow coating the crust in the mid-elevation band. 

An observer found 2 inches of low-density snow over the crust at Heather Meadows (4200ft) on Wednesday. At 5000ft there was 4 inches. Snow hadn't been wind-affected. It's reported that the stout crust is getting harder and less grippy. Calm to light winds and the possibility of another inch or so of snow by the end of the day Thursday means you can expect similar conditions. If you make it to upper elevations there's a very low chance you could trigger a small wind slab in a freshly formed drift. Low density snow may easily slide on the crust as well.

Last week's large atmospheric river produced large and very large wet avalanches. There's just enough snow at mid and upper elevations that debris piles are beginning to get disguised, especially if visibility is poor. The large weather event resulted in a massive loss of snow at lower elevations. Snowlines are 3-4000+ feet depending on aspect. Creeks are exposed up to about 5000ft. Until you reach the newer snowline at about 4000ft, you'll be traveling on an old, firm crust. 

The stout crust is about a foot thick, and wet snow exists beneath the crust. Currently in the West North zone, avalanche activity in the foreseeable future is limited to above the crust. At upper elevations, there's 6-8 inches of snow over the crust. A few days prior, this snow was redistributed into drifts. The drifts were inconsistent, with some being unreactive and others reactive. No slabs were extensive enough to produce any avalanche activity to our knowledge. On Sunday several observers found weak, faceted snow in the thinly distributed new layer above the crust. 

Since last week, several people have traveled even to upper elevations without using the floatation devices such as skis or snowshoes that they carried. They came prepared with arrest tools such as crampons and an ice axe, however. If you make it into the backcountry on Thursday please submit an observation so we can hear about conditions where you traveled.