This will most likely be the last backcountry conditions report for the 2012/13 ski season. The DOT will start plowing the highway on Monday March 25, which will shut down snowmobile access to the ski terrain around Washington Pass. While there will still be some great turns to be had after the highway opens, the plowing of the highway is the symbolic end of winter for us at NCMG. There is still one last weekend to enjoy winter powder skiing. Don't miss out.
Current Conditions
The large storm that hit the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday March 20 laid down an impressive amount of new snow. This storm came in warm and went out cold, which made for some great skiing conditions. During the storm there was a fair amount of wind which moved the low density snow around. The best riding conditions can be found on wind protected terrain near treeline and in the alpine. North and east facing terrain below treeline is also skiing well but the sun exposed slopes picked up a sun crust during the small clearing Wednesday and Thursday. Ski penetration averages 30 to 40 cms with deeper pockets in wind loaded zones.
Avalanche Conditions
The March 20th storm produced a widespread avalanche cycle. Most of these avalanches were limited to pockets of wind slab near ridge crest or storm slab in very steep terrain. Overall the snowpack is fairly stable with our primary concern being recently wind loaded, steep slopes. We were finding good stability in the new storm snow in non-wind effected terrain (due to lack of a cohesive slab) but fairly unstable snow in terrain loaded by the wind. The rain event on March 14, followed by the cool weather has essentially locked down the mid and lower snowpack, so the instabilities seem to be limited to snow above this melt-freeze crust at this time.
This page is for informational purposes only and is no substitute for gathering your own observations in the field and checking the avalanche report at www.nwac.us.
Skiing Forecast
The skiing this weekend should be excellent. While it may be hard to get up high due to the Cutthroat slide paths running on March 20th there should be plenty of good snow elsewhere. The forecast is calling for relatively cool temperatures and partly to mostly sunny skies. Enjoy!
We will be headed to the Alps for the month of April but we are looking forward to the highway opening soon. The DOT is predicting that they will have it open by May 1st. Hope to see you then.
David Lehnherr enjoying powder on the first day of Spring
Heading up towards Poster Peak on March 19th
Chris Severson skiing blower powder in Gotcha
Chris and David happy to head up for one more run.