Quick report
We accessed Washington Pass from the east side to investigate recent slide activity and assess storm damage to the road infrastructure. Travel conditions were unpleasant due to snow conditions. At the pass there were 10 cm of melt forms at the surface above a 10 cm melt freeze crust capped by a rain crust. Below that was a mix of moist decomposing and rounded particles from the recent storm event. The snowpack shrinks quickly as you travel west. By the Easy Pass trailhead there was less than 30 cm of snow on the ground. We observed old wet loose avalanches on all aspects in any steep terrain including large avalanches in any terrain that could funnel debris.
Avalanche
Numerous D2-D3 avalanches were observed from the recent storm cycle. Slides may have initiated in the alpine as slab avalanches, but no crowns were observed. Slides were long running and entrained old, saturated snow. With the thin snowpack east of the pass, slides generally ran to the ground entraining mud, rocks, and trees. Any steep slope with any sort of gully feature experienced medium to large destructive wet loose slides during the last storm cycle. Slides were observed as far west as Easy Pass where we turned around.