Up-Coming Events: January 26, 6 pm - 6th Annual Snow Ball Fundraising event put on by Friends of the Mt. Shasta Avalanche Center and sponsored by Timberworks and Chitwood Energy Management at the Mt. Shasta City Park with Dinner, music, dancing, all types of beverages and tons of raffle and silent auction items. Best party of the year! January 27, Flying Squirrel Classic - Telemark and Rando fun race; costumes optional; backcountry demo gear available. Benefit for Friends of the Mt. Shasta Avalanche Center and sponsored by The Fifth Season. Registration 11:30-12:30, race at 1:00 pm. Best fun race of the season! Special Note: Castle Lake road is open to just above Methodist Camp. They have begun work on the Everitt Mem. Hwy. to Bunny Flat, and it should open soon this week, but is still closed as of 7:30 am 1/21/08. Climbers- get ready for a real climb! 9000 ft! Avalanche Advisory for Monday, January 21, 2008 at 6:15 am (MLKJ Holiday) By Eric White The Details: This Season: We had an early thin snow pack with December bringing near normal precipitation and 3.5 feet of snow along with strong winds above tree line. Our precipitation is around 97% of normal since September 1. A strong storm series in early January deposited 4-8 feet of snow with major wind scouring above tree line. We are in a "La Nina" climate condition which often means wetter than normal winters in our area and expectations are for above normal precipitation into the spring of 2008. Weather Observations: We have cloudy skies with calm winds in town this morning, and it is currently 27F in Mt. Shasta and 32F in Dunsmuir. Mt. Shasta - We are measuring 64 inches of snow on the ground near tree line with a trace to 1 inch of new snow over the last 24 hours. 1 inch of settlement has occurred over the last 24 hours with 9 inches of settlement over the last week and temperatures have ranged between 13F to 25F at 7000 ft. and it is currently a chilly 13F. Winds this morning were light and variable at most elevations, which is a rarity on Mt. Shasta. Castle/Mt. Eddy - Mt. Eddy received a trace to 1 inch of new snow and 1 inch of settlement in the last 24 hours. We estimate around 5 ft. of snow on the ground. The temperature on Mt. Eddy this morning is 15F. Temperatures near Castle Lake have been between 10F-33F over the last 24 hours and currently are around 16F. Weather Forecast: The current weak storm is centered over Crescent City this morning bringing light and variable winds to our area. It will become a cut-off low and park off the California coast over the next few days, but will be below our area and bring easterly winds and cool temps to Mt. Shasta. We will start to see some changes by the end of this week with wet and unsettled weather for the Snow Ball weekend (1/26-27) continuing into early February. For today we can expect cloudy skies with very light snow showers possible and the snow level down to Lakehead 1000 ft. with little accumulation. We will see decreasing clouds during the day with some sun possible. Temperatures today at mid elevations (6-9000 ft.) will warm to the upper teens and low 20's. Wind chill on the upper mountain today will be around -28F with air temperatures around -10F. Winds will be light and variable at most elevations today, picking up this evening and moving to the east and south - at tree line 20 mph from the ESE. Snow Pack: Our snow pack has had time to settle and stabilize over the last 2 weeks. Cold temperatures will keep things pretty solid over the next several days. We still have some concerns at upper elevations for small wind slabs and Moderate avalanche danger on a variety of aspects, while most other areas will have Low avalanche danger. Stability tests at mid elevations this week continue to show fair stability with Rutschblock scores of R6 (R1-3=unstable; R4-5=Moderate; R6-7fair Stability). Above tree line the mountain has been wind scoured this winter with little to no snow on ridges and water ice continuing in places on glaciers. At mid and lower elevations we have variable snow conditions with generally very hard snow on southerly aspects and a variety of crusts on other aspects. Road work continues on the Everitt which will open to Bunny Flat this week. Climbers should plan an extra day for this 9000 ft. climb over the Holiday weekend! Castle Lake road is open to just above Methodist Camp. Some important thoughts: This advisory does not apply to Ski Areas or Highways and is for the Mt. Shasta, Castle Lake and Mt. Eddy back country. Use this information for guidance only. You may find different conditions in the backcountry and should travel accordingly. This advisory expires at midnight tonight. As always, use safe travel practices: travel with a partner, travel one at a time in suspect areas, go from one island of safety to another, choose safe routes, wear a transceiver, carry a shovel and probe, and know how to use your gear!