Purcells

Danger is expected to increase with forecast snow and wind. As always, and especially when forecast confidence is low, it's important to supplement this forecast with your own observations. Please post your obs to the MIN.

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Light snowfall is expected for Thursday and Friday with 5-10cm of accumulation each day accompanied by moderate to strong southwesterly alpine winds and freezing levels at valley bottoms. Snowfall and winds should ease off with a clearing and cooling trend for Saturday.

Recent reports include a natural Size 2 storm slab avalanche on a steep fan below a large alpine face in the Glacier Creek area. Check out the MIN report for for details including a photo.

Recent reports suggest average snowpack depth is 80-150cm in the alpine and 60-100cm at treeline. The snowpack below treeline remains below threshold for avalanches, but watch out for early season hazards such as hidden rocks, stumps, and open creeks. Up to 40cm of recent storm snow is settling into a cohesive slab over a hard crust. This crust is the primary weakness of concern and is expected to become increasingly reactive as the slab above settles and stiffens. Southerly winds have also formed very touchy wind slabs on lee features below ridetops in exposed terrain. Although conditions have been reported as being quite good, remember that an early season snowpack is inherently weak and requires thorough investigation before stepping out into bigger terrain.