South Rockies

Sheltered, shady slopes likely hold the best snow for riding.

High - The weather pattern is stable

Thursday: Cloudy. Last day of alpine temperature inversion. Alpine temperatures near -2 and freezing levels at valley bottom. Ridgetop winds light from the west.Friday: Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures near -7. Ridgetop winds moderate from the west.Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures near -10. Ridgetop winds moderate from the west.

No new avalanche activity has been observed. Submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network.

A variety of snow surfaces exist throughout the region. Isolated yet stubborn, small wind slabs may be found on varying aspects in the alpine from Tuesday’s wind event. Windward slopes have been scoured down to the old rain crust or rock and sun crusts have formed on southerly slopes. In sheltered treeline and below treeline terrain, feathery surface hoar and surface facets (sugary snow) exist, likely providing decent riding conditions.The two crusts that were buried near the end of November can now be found approximately 30 cm and 60 cm down. A third crust from the end of October exists as a "facet/crust" combo near the base of the snowpack approximately 50-100 cm down and recent snowpack tests done on this layer are showing hard results. These rain crusts will likely be with us all winter but may not pose a problem until we see a significant change in the weather.