Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

It was a sunny, mild spring-like day on the east slopes of the Cascades. Surfaces had refrozen overnight and were supportable at all elevations in the morning. By the afternoon, surfaces below 4500ft had become soft and punchy.

Most avalanches were small wet loose avalanches from earlier in the week. But I also saw a few more recent wet loose slides that initiated from rocks or cornices shedding snow onto the slopes below. Many of the cornices have shed and melted back, but there are still some very large ones overhanging sharp ridgelines.

Snowpack Observations

I ventured into the Salmon la Sac zone to look at the storm totals from March 29th-30th. Unfortunately, it looks like the precipitation tapered rapidly east of the Cascade crest. Below 4700ft, no snow accumulated, and above that, only 1-2 inches of snow overlays the thick melt-freeze crust. This recent snow is a mix of graupel and decomposing fragments that are beginning to facet and weaken.

I found a consolidated and spring-like snowpack at upper elevations on both west and east aspects. Lower elevations are melting out quickly, and travel was challenging. From the Salmon la Sac SnoPark, large swaths of bare ground must be ridden over before finding continuous snow. After the turn onto Fortune Creek, spots on the groomed trail have been undermined with water and have collapsed. The primary route to Van Epps Pass is bare in places, but there are ways to navigate around them at this point. Steeper southerly aspects had the least snow and the most challenging travel. Above 5000ft, the snowpack is more robust, and travel becomes much more manageable.