East Stevens

We sledded into the Paddy's area to take a look at the east face of Mt. Stevens. Coverage is good but overall snow depth is average, with lots of shallow wind exposed areas at alpine elevations, and plenty of sharks to avoid. There are significant wind slabs on all alpine aspects, and we remotely triggered two size 1.5 wind slabs on a SE facing loaded convexity from about 100 m away. Temperatures were around 0 (1500 m), 5-6 c at valley bottom (800 m). While skinning, we experienced several whumphs; the snowpack in the skiable area of Mt. Stevens is touchy and shallow, and terrain is complex with a lot of overhead exposure once you commit to the run. After a few turns we settled instead for sitting in the sun and taking in the views.