Avalanche danger will increase as temperatures rise throughout the day. There is uncertainty around how the snowpack will handle this warm-up.
Choose increasingly conservative terrain as temperatures rise.
Recent snowfall and westerly winds are expected to have formed wind slabs in lee features in the alpine. Watch for areas where recent slabs are overlying a sun crust that can act as a perfect bed surface.
Cornices have grown significantly in the past two weeks. Warm temperatures may make cause cornices to become weak. Cornice failures are dangerous on their own, but also have the potential to trigger larger avalanches on the slopes below.
Give them a wide berth when travelling on ridge-lines and minimize overhead exposure to large cornices.
If the sun comes out on Tuesday, warm temperatures compounded by strong solar radiation may cause rapid destabilization in the upper snowpack, creating wet loose avalanches out of steep terrain.
MONDAY NIGHT: Partially cloudy. Moderate westerly winds. Freezing level dropping to 1000 m.
TUESDAY: Partially cloudy. Moderate to strong northwesterly winds. Freezing level rising to 3000 m.
WEDNESDAY: Mainly cloudy. Moderate to strong westerly winds. Freezing level around 2500 m.
THURSDAY: Cloudy with snowfall. Light westerly winds. Freezing level around 1500 m.
Avalanche activity in the past week has been limited to small wind slabs and wet loose avalanches (size 1).
5-10 cm of recent snowfall has been redistributed by strong westerly winds, building windslab in lee areas. The surface is moist and crusty below 1800 m on all aspects and on solar aspects into the alpine. The upper snowpack contains several crust layers, and the snow is well bonded to these crusts.
