East Slopes South

A natural avalanche cycle is expected Saturday night into early Sunday morning with heavy snow and rain. Rain may seep into a previously dry snowpack up to 7,000ft and cause wet avalanches. Stick to lower angled terrain, and travel conservatively to avoid getting caught. 

Loose wet avalanches could be triggered or run spontaneously during the day. These could be large, and may gouge down to the early December crust. You will probably see evidence of recent activity if you look around at steep hillsides, as many naturals may run overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. Signs of loose wet instability are rollerballs, and wet sticky snow that entrains as it moves downhill. If you sink in deeper than your knee into wet snow, there is a danger of deep loose wet avalanches on steep slopes. The best way to manage large loose wet avalanches is to avoid being underneath very steep slopes, even in forested terrain if the trees are spaced out. 

A natural avalanche cycle is expected overnight into early Sunday morning. Rain may filter down into a previously dry snowpack up to 7,000ft and cause wet slab avalanches. Weak snow has been found above a 12/10 rain crust that can be identified within the top 3 ft of the snowpack in all adjacent zones and thus it is likely to linger on shaded aspects in the East South zone. If water percolates down to the weak snow, this could create large natural avalanches and unexpected avalanches that propagate widely across terrain features. Timing can be impossible to predict. Keeping your risk to zero will not be possible if you head into avalanche terrain on Sunday, so consider this before heading out.

Saturday night brought 0.5" of water equivalent with snow levels above nearby White Pass along with very strong to extreme winds. Friday night, strong west winds and 5-7inches of snow are expected at elevations above 4500'. Nearby White Pass picked up 7 inches of snow along with strong west wind Thursday. 

Expect shallow snow cover below 4000-4500' and bare ground particularly on low south-facing slopes. Typical early season hazards can be expected with open creeks, stumps, and rocks. 

See the media gallery below for recent pictures of Pinegrass ridge, Mt Aix, and Mt Darland areas taken from White Pass.

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, continue to follow the latest guidance from local, state, and federal health officials. Avoid unnecessary risks that could impact first responders and stress medical resources.  Wear a mask when appropriate, practice social distancing, and consider recreating closer to home.