Stevens Pass

Hard, refrozen snow surfaces may be the biggest challenge to backcountry travel. Bring equipment for firm snow conditions. Cold pass-level temperatures and strong inversions will persist.

Little in the way of avalanche danger is expected on Friday. The biggest risk to backcountry travel is probably surface conditions. Slick crusts, bumpy runnels, and other rugged surface features will stick around until we get more snow. It’s advisable to bring along sharp and pointy things like ski and/or boot crampons, and some sort of self-arrest tool if venturing into steeper terrain. 

Southerly aspects and many rigdelines have snow depths ranging from bare dirt to 3 feet, with no lack of open holes, creeks, cracks, exposed rocks to naviagate. Travel in tree covered terrain is quite difficult across slick and variable surfaces, but smoother snow and soft proto-corn conditions were found on mid elevation south aspects on Wednesday. Faceting has been observed in shady terrain, with the crust weakening and softening at the surface.

Inversion conditions remained strong on Thursday, similar to previous days, with a 19°F temperature difference between pass level (3,950 ft) and the top of the Skyline lift (5,250 ft) at 2:00 pm. The east–west temperature gradient shifted back and forth through the day, with Tye briefly warming as cold air retreated, then cooling again as easterly flow and cold air wormed its way back in.