Mt Hood

Even with low avalanche danger, you may still find isolated 3-6 inch thick slabs of wind-drifted snow above 6000 ft. These pockets will be small but could be consequential in steep upper mountain terrain - especially with the firm surface conditions. The more significant hazard will be the widespread bulletproof surfaces across the prime skiing and climbing terrain - so be sure to bring crampons, an ice axe, and a good strategy to keep a slip from becoming a fall today. 

The snowpack has endured a beating over the past week with several inches of rain and warm temperatures. We're finally cooling down, but we're now left with a rough, variable snowpack. At lower elevations, we lost a significant amount of snow leaving us with many open creeks and shallowly buried objects to navigate around. Fortunately, middle and upper elevations have been resilient, and the snowpack is well-adjusted after several melt-freeze cycles and a prolonged thaw. 

The main story for the time being will be the slide-for-life conditions, especially once you climb above 6000 ft. The 1 inch of new snow may cover up some of the ice, but don't be fooled into thinking it will be any softer, as it will just act as dust on the crust. On Friday, NWAC forecasters did find this new snow drifting into shallow (2-4 inch thick) reactive wind slabs. These slabs were typically isolated and confined to leeward features above 6000 ft. 

If you head out Saturday, enjoy the drier weather, but travel cautiously since plenty of new hazards may be lurking that were not present last week. Any open creeks, rocks, or stumps can easily exacerbate the consequence of an uncontrolled fall. 

Your avalanche, snowpack, or weather observations are extremely valuable to the forecasters at NWAC. Help create a more accurate avalanche forecast by submitting your observations here.