Bulletin d’avalanche

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Sat
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 5 years ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

It's early season and the new snow is beginning to accumulate. Steer around steep slopes if you observe recent avalanches, shooting cracks or freshly wind drifted snow. A potent storm will significantly increase snow coverage, as well as avalanche danger Friday night into Saturday.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–2

    Light snow continues to accumulate and will continue to be transported into shallow slabs on Friday. You are most likely to find unstable wind slabs on open, exposed slopes near and above treeline. If you notice long shooting cracks in fresh difts, then you could trigger an avalanche on a steep slope. Look for visual clues of drifted snow near ridgelines, gullies, and beneath large rock outcrops. Slabs may break in surprising ways on a slick crust from late November. Check how well the recent snow is bonding to this crust. Remember that coverage is thin, and any avalanche could drag you for a rough ride. 

    (12/8/2021) Example shooting cracks in freshly wind drifted snow from Stevens Pass zone. Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

On Wednesday, an observer triggered a small, (D1.5) 8" deep wind slab avalanche that ran on the recently buried and prominent rain crust from late November. This was on a NE aspect at around 7,000ft. We have minimal recent observations, and this leads to a fair amount of uncertainty with the snowpack structure, especially regarding this layer interface throughout the zone. In any case, this layer should be a fairly prominent marker in the snowpack, and will continue to bear watching as we get more snow into the weekend.

It's early season and the snowpack is still thin, especially below treeline. Over snow travel is becoming easier on skis and snowmobile, but there are plenty of ground hazards to be careful of. Observers are finding significantly more new snow with every mile west. On Wednesday, observers reported around 8" of new snow over the recently buried crust near Washington Pass, and 16" near Rainy Pass. 

A strong storm is expected to impact the area beginning Friday night through Saturday. Expect a fairly significant increase in avalanche danger on Saturday with this heavy dump of new snow. If you get out on Friday, consider submitting an observation to our platform here. 

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