Olympics

A fresh shot of wind and additional light snow will maintain dangerous avalanche conditions in the Hurricane Ridge area Monday.  Continue to avoid big open slopes capable of producing large avalanches, sticking to lower angle and less wind affected terrain. 

Hurricane Ridge picked up a whopping 3 ft over the weekend and it just kept snowing throughout the day on Sunday.  The Hurricane Ridge Road was closed on Sunday but limited observations from NPS staff and NWAC observers found the newest snow layering right-side up and less wind affected than earlier in the storm.  That said, storm instabilities were still an issue on Sunday with one natural avalanche recorded off of Sunrise ridge following a cornice failure Saturday night or early Sunday.  A storm interface 16" (40 cm) was reactive in snowpit tests as well.  Deeper in the snowpack, observers continued to track a weak snow/crust interface (12/8) that was now buried 3' down on northerly aspects near treeline as a layer to watch. 

With more snow and wind in the forecast, expect the avalanche danger to stay elevated on Monday.  Recent storm instabilities from this weekend are healing with time but cold temperatures and suspect layers in the upper snowpack mean you need to tread carefully as you climb into more exposed and consequential terrain. Slab avalanches are more likely to break near the surface but avalanches may break down to lingering deeper layers.  Poor visibility, stormy conditions, and a building snowpack have limited direct observations this weekend.  We have more uncertainty than usual coming out of this storm cycle, so take a cautious approach when planning your day. 

Preliminary Accident Report: On Saturday morning, December 11th, an avalanche fatality occurred in the Silver Basin area of Crystal Mountain Ski Resort.  See the accident summary for additional details.

2021-22 Forecast Schedule: Avalanche danger ratings will be issued for the Olympics every Friday through Sunday and during mid-week holidays. During the week when the Hurricane Ridge road is closed, forecast information will be updated daily to include expected conditions and relevant travel advice under the No Rating label.