Northwest Mountains

Avalanche conditions remain dangerous after significant snowfall from a few days ago and continued wind loading thereafter.  An incoming storm today will slowly stack snowfall throughout the day and into Wednesday morning.  Avalanches have the ability to break widely and run great distances.  You can remotely trigger a dangerous avalanche from below or adjacent terrain.  Decreased visibility will require you to carefully plan your route today so you can avoid exposing your group to overhead avalanche hazard.  Continue to find low angle terrain that does not have steep terrain above to safely enjoy the mountains.     

Yesterday, Monday 2/8 may have been the first day since last week without a natural avalanche running and I will emphasize may have been.  Healthy amounts of snowfall at the end of last week coupled with continuous westerly winds led to a prolonged period of natural avalanches.  Take a look in the media gallery as well as the observations page to witness the carnage from the past few days.  Many of these natural avalanches ran close to full track and propagated widely across entire start zones particularly in the Northwest Mountains.  Westerly winds continued to blow on Monday allowing some leeward slopes to see an increase in burden, but windward fetches have slowly begun to run dry of transportable snow.  This long period of loading leaves slopes, that have not already avalanched, teetering precariously on the edge of failure.  This is important for two reasons.  Steep leeward features are just waiting for a trigger, yeah that's you, to fail and create a dangerous avalanche.  Additional snowfall today and tonight coupled with wind-loading will increase the threat of natural avalanches late today and overnight.  An Avalanche Watch has been issued in anticipation for the avalanche hazard to increase after dark and into tomorrow.  Keep a close eye on new snowfall accumulations today and if you observe more than 6 inches of new snow, then expect the hazard to be increasing.  It can be taxing and laborious during long periods of increased avalanche hazard, but it remains important to stay the course with disciplined terrain choices that manage not just the low angled slopes you are recreating on, but also steep slopes above your group.  Last week was one of the worst ever for avalanche accidents in the United States (the national accident list for last week is a sobering read) and avalanche conditions this week look to follow a similar pattern for Crested Butte and Colorado as a whole.  Below is a paragraph that Zach Guy wrote yesterday explaining the potential hazard of triggering a dangerous avalanche from directly below steep terrain and it feels just as relevant today (I made a few slight edits to make the timing fit).   

Given the dangerous conditions, we've been highlighting low angle terrain as the most reliable way to travel safely.  My favorite observation from Sunday was that the snowpack was "stable on flat ground".   That's true....sort of.   From flat ground, you can remotely trigger avalanches that start in steep terrain above you.  This video and story from Utah is a great example of how you can get in trouble from below a steep slope.  With the threat of natural activity ongoing today, you can also get overrun by a natural while standing on flat ground.   Choose your terrain wisely today with careful consideration for overhead hazards.