The low-vis flat light spring mission where clouds form and dissipate in an instant. Time for a SWE check in.
The adage goes like this: “You won’t know if you don’t go.” So, go forth and tempt getting skunked; you might find touring bliss. The high sun and potential for snow-albedo not working in your favor means the likelihood of diminishing returns on your tour’s big-smile quotient. Get after it while you still can. Most of us are not pros traversing latitudes and longitudes in search of the endless winter. Which brings us to the season’s final SWE overview.
It’s been a pretty good season from a non-data-driven overview of the touring season. For many of us, just a few good days of light powder snow are sufficient to satiate the “need.” Whether your zone had low, medium, or high SWE, we hope you made the best of it. While some in the PNW were touring on October 31, others in the Tetons, for example, got a later start. Our lead in Alaska, Alex Lee, spoke of an on-again, off-again snow sliding scene with a trend toward more off-again. (This is not to say that current conditions at the Kahiltna International Airstrip aren’t snowy. Reports claim they are.)
Maybe you are reading this and thinking I’ve been trail running and mountain biking since mid-March. Or maybe it goes something like this: Suncups and skinning over dirt patches and sweating from all my pores is not touring. Fair enough. If that’s you, store the gear properly. Remove batteries from your transceiver. Wipe dirt off bases. Remove food from your winter-focused pack—rodents, or sometimes, a sneaky pet will do it for you and trash the pack.
Pan out. The see-it all, or at least the most-of-it view. Evaporation happens. Melting happens. Diminishing SWE.
While it’s a mixed SWE scene up north, we know of some who have had interesting touring/ski mountaineering forays into the Coast Range and further up country. For those heading to the Central AK Range: you might be intermittently shoveling tents out.
While the SWE is diminishing as we approach the Summer Solstice, now is the time for PNW volcano adventures.
The wide view of the West (absent most of the PNW) shows we are on the downward slope of SWE totals. South facing slopes may be suncupped. North facing slopes may be your friend.
Nothing for the East Coast? Ouch!
We’re forecast to get a foot of snow on top of Mount Washington today. Somebody will be getting ~200′ of soft turns in the snowfields tomorrow. But not me. Ironically, I’ll be on a plane to Oregon.
I took my first proper trip to the Coast Range this spring. It would be interesting to see it in a more fat year.