Rugged travel conditions are the most readily found hazard.
Avalanche danger exists up high where cornices can trigger slabs in dry snow or through a thin crust.
Natural cornice falls are becoming less likely with cooler alpine temperatures. But these large loads are not only dangerous on their own, they can trigger large slabs on slopes below.
A surface hoar layer is down 1 meter, and a facet layer can be found at the base of the snowpack in the west Purcells. Large loads like cornice falls may be able to trigger this layer, especially in areas that lack a robust surface crust.
Recent avalanche activity has been a mixed bag including:
One notable outlier was an explosive-triggered Size 3.5 avalanche that stepped down to a deep persistent slab in the west Purcells. While not representative of widespread conditions, it highlights that large avalanches remain possible with large loads like cornices, in complex alpine terrain.
A number of cornice falls triggered large wind slabs, size 2 to 2.5, in extreme terrain in the high alpine
A widespread melt-freeze crust extends to the alpine. Across the alpine, snow remains dry and wind affected, except on southerly aspects where solar input has had more influence. Cornices loom large.
A surface hoar layer from in early January is buried around 1 m deep. The mid-December crust is now buried around 1.5 m deep, and is present up to 2300 m. Deep in the snowpack near the ground in the West Purcells a crust/facet layer can be found. Triggering these layers is unlikely under current conditions, and would require a large load like a cornice fall.
Sunday Night
Clear skies. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Monday
Sunny. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Tuesday
Sunny. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
