Blue River

Slabs at higher elevations could remain touchy to riders. Expect to find varying conditions as you change aspect and elevation.

The last few days saw widespread small to large (size 1 to 2) storm slab and loose avalanches in alpine terrain on all aspects, generally out of steep terrain (40 to 45 degrees).

Looking forward, riders could trigger storm slabs within the recent snow. These slabs could be particularly reactive on steep northerly terrain at higher elevations. Loose wet avalanches may also occur during the heat of the day on sun-exposed slopes.

20 to 40 cm of snow accumulated above around 1000 m to 1500 m over the past few days. All this new snow sits on surface hoar crystals that overly faceted or wind affect snow on northerly alpine terrain or a hard melt-freeze crust elsewhere. Thicker deposits may be found in lee terrain features near ridgetop. Sun-exposed slopes are likely to moisten with daytime heating.

A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried anywhere from 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a weak layer of faceted grains above it that are slowly strengthening. This layer is currently dormant.

The remainder of the snowpack is settled.

Saturday Night

Skies clearing. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

Mostly clear skies. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Clear skies, clouds increasing in the north. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 2200 m.

Partly cloudy. 35 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
• Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.