South Rockies

Avoid all avalanche terrain.

Large natural and rider-triggered avalanches are expected and could run to the valley bottom.

Information is very limited but an avalanche cycle is suspected to be ongoing and to continue Monday.

Several large (size 2-3) avalanches were triggered with explosives this week. They were primarily wind slabs failing on buried facets from mid-January's cold spell about 30 to 60 cm deep.

Up to 30 cm of soft snow is getting saturated by rain at all elevations and high temperatures. The strong southwest wind has also redistributed surface snow in the alpine and treeline. Expect the entire below treeline snowpack to be losing strength.

There is a layer of sugary facets that are buried 30-50 cm deep and in some places sits on a crust from December. This layer has been reactive in snowpack tests.

The lower snowpack contains a series of crusts and faceted snow. Expect snow depth at treeline to be 70 to 120 cm.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy with no snow, west alpine wind 25 to 35 km/h, treeline temperature 1 °C, freezing level 2250 m.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud with no new snow, west alpine wind 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature 6 °C, freezing level 3500 m.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and clouds with no snow, southwest alpine wind 40 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature 5 °C, freezing level dropping to 2500 m in the afternoon.

Wednesday

Mostly clear skies with no new snow, southwest alpine wind 25 to 45 km/h, treeline temperature 6 °C, freezing level 2700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
• If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
• The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
• Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.