East Slopes South

Triggering an avalanche is unlikely on Monday. Any instability will be limited to small, isolated drifts in exposed terrain that may have formed from recent light accumulations.  Low snow, challenging access, and firm refrozen surfaces will continue to be your bigger hazard. Stay alert for areas where a small avalanche or slip on firm snow could have big consequences.  

A small system is delivering very light accumulations to the Cascades. Unfortunately, not much is making it East of the crest before a drying trend ensues on Sunday night. While accumulations are light, there may just be enough new snow to be drifted into shallow unstable slabs in alpine terrain. These should be small, but they could fail easily depending on what they form over. An NWAC Forecaster traveling at nearby White Pass reported roughly 6 inches of new snow on shaded aspects and triggered small pockets of wind slabs on these same aspects. They reported variable, often breakable travel on E-S-W aspects.  Expect less recent snow in the East South, but you may find similar softer riding conditions on northerlies.  Fortunately, the robust crust that is keeping you or your machine from penetrating that far is also limiting avalanche concerns deeper in the snowpack. Any instability will be confined to the new snow above this very stout 3/25 crust. 

As you’d expect by looking around, your more significant hazard will come from low snow and slick crusts. Give yourself extra time to access and exit the mountains, and be sure to pack the proper gear to help you navigate firm surfaces. 

Last week’s warm spell decimated the already struggling East South snowpack. Below 5,000 ft, snow coverage is too limited for avalanche danger at this time—so we’re issuing a No Rating for lower elevations. You can still find rideable snow at middle and upper elevations. 

Are you heading out? We could use the observations in this zone. Let us know what you see by submitting an observation here or on the AvyApp.