5-7cm of snow provides a bit of a Rockies refresh for ski conditions, but it overlies wind slabs that are still possible to trigger. It will be a cold day on Thursday.
Wind slabs are now hidden by 5-7cm of new snow. Some wind slabs have been triggered in the past 36-48 hours in the alpine on the Dec. 31 crust down 20-50cm. These will still be possible to trigger over the next few days.
The base of the snowpack consists of weak facets and depth hoar, and there has been some sporadic activity on this layer over the past week. Use caution in steep terrain or planar slopes where failures in these basal facets are more likely to propagate. Especially watch thick-to-thin areas.
Lake Louise and Sunshine ski hills reported explosive controlled avalanches of wind slabs to size 1-1.5 today. No other avalanches were reported.
5-7cm over the last 24 hours overlies previous wind effect and wind slabs at treeline and above. 30-40 cm overlies the Dec. 31 surface hoar/sun crust. Below this, in the mid-pack, two crusts (Dec. 22 and Dec. 5) exist as high as 2350m and have been providing the primary support for skiing. The base of the snowpack remains weak with depth hoar and facets as the snowpack is well below average. Click here for a profile done today at Dolomite shoulder
Thursday - North winds will switch to light S/SW. No snow is expected; low temperatures are close to -30C, and highs are -17C. The skies should be mainly clear and the sun out.
Friday- Winds will increase into the strong range from the SW with slightly warmer temperatures and a trace of snow.
Temperatures will continue to warm over the weekend.
For more information, click here for the Mountain Weather Forecast.
