While natural activity has tapered, human triggering of buried weak layers remains likely - and high consequence.
Wind slabs may remain triggerable by riders, especially near ridge crests and rollovers. Recent winds have switched from east to southwest, so watch for slabs on all aspects and expect locally variable conditions.
Buried persistent weak layers have produced large natural and human triggered avalanches recently. Triggering remains possible.
Persistent slabs have been reactive on the February weak layer, predominantly in the alpine. Over the weekend and into Monday, a natural avalanche cycle included persistent slabs up to size 3 and explosive control work produced results up to size 3.5. On Tuesday, a skier remotely triggered a size 2.5 from 100 m away.
Looking forward, human triggering of large slabs remains a significant concern.
Snow at upper elevations has been wind-affected. Cornices are large and fragile. South-facing slopes and low elevations hold a surface crust.
Facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid February are buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer has produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches this week.
Deeper in the snowpack, a facet/crust layer from early December can be found from 100 to 300 cm deep. This layer appears to be dormant for now but we're keeping it on the radar as an isolated concern which may reactivate in the spring.
Wednesday night
Mostly cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -5 °C. Freezing level 500 m.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy 1 to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Friday
Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -2 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.
Saturday
Partly cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -5 °C. Freezing level 800 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
