Stick to simple terrain and avoid overhead slopes. It's possible to remote-trigger very large avalanches from long distances away.
Check out this MIN report showcasing a recent avalanche.
Reactive wind slabs may exist. North through east slopes are very loaded with deep deposits of snow but changing winds could also load south facing slopes on Friday.
A layer of facets over a crust buried 60 to 100 cm deep and if triggered will produce large and destructive avalanches.
On Wednesday, the Yukon Team via snowmobile remotely triggered a large (size 3) persistent slab avalanche from 100 m away near Bryant Lake. It was triggered from flat terrain at the col on an ENE aspect at 1500 m. The crown depth was 1 to 2 m, the width was 400 m and it ran 400 m down slope. It slid on the December facet/ crust interface.
A natural avalanche cycle up to size 3 occurred during the storm earlier in the week.
Human-triggered avalanches remain likely on Friday.
Up to 40 cm of storm snow has been redistributed by strong southwest winds building thick wind slabs on leeward slopes.
A persistent weak layer consisting of a crust with faceted snow above it is buried 60 to 100 cm, and extends up to 1750 m. Recent snowpack tests have shown moderate results with sudden collapse behaviour. A large (size 3) remotely triggered avalanche is an indicator that this persistent slab is reactive.
Total snow depths are around 160–190 cm at treeline.
Thursday Night
Clear. 15 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and cloud. 15 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Saturday
A mix of sun and cloud. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Sunday
A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Strong alpine above freezing layer.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
