Natural avalanches are tapering off, but human triggering is still a real possibility. If you choose to go into bigger terrain and trigger an avalanche it will likely involve the whole feature.
Slabs 25-60cm thick sit over a Dec. 17 weak layer of facets that was on the surface during the prolonged deep freeze. Activity has slowed on this layer but once initiated could step down to deeper facet layers.
The bottom of the snowpack is very weak and faceted. Natural avalanche activity has lessened, but forecasters are still concerned about skier-triggered avalanches stepping down to this layer. Below treeline is mainly facets without a slab above.
Lake Louise got a couple of avalanches up to size 2 with explosives today, with one possibly stepping down to the deeper facets. No other avalanches were reported.
10-20cm of soft surface snow in many areas gives good ski quality with a supportive mid-pack. However, the mid-pack is generally weak with two persistent layers (Dec. 17 layer 25-60cm down, and a deeper layer of facets, depth hoar, and/or crust near the ground) that show variable results with snowpack tests.
On Friday, scattered flurries and cloudy skies will occur near the continental divide. Strong SW winds of 50-60km/h will diminish to 30-40 km/h over the day, and freezing levels will remain at valley bottom.
