Fresh wind slabs at tree line and above still require careful assessment. As always in the spring, pay attention to how hot it's getting, and how strong the sun is.
Previous strong SW winds, with new snow, has formed wind slabs at TL and in the ALP. Treat these with caution and give them time to bond to the old surfaces.
The significance of this problem will vary widely depending on aspect, elevation, and the time of day. Pay attention to how good the overnight freeze is, as well as how quickly things are warming up.
Friday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Nil Precip. High -3 C. Ridge wind southwest: 10-20 km/h. Freezing level: 1800 metres.
Saturday: Flurries 9 cm. Low -5 C, High -1 C. Mostly light ridge wind. Freezing level: 2100 metres.
Sunday: Flurries 10 cm. Low -3 C, High 0 C. Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h gusting to 50 km/h. Freezing level: 2200 metres.
5-10cm low density new snow, redistributed by strong SW winds, overlies yesterday's sun crust and melt-freeze crusts up to 2100m (1-10cm thick elevation dependent).
Snow pack below 1700m is either wet or refrozen depending on the time of day and the solar input.
Over the last 48hrs there has been a widespread wet loose avalanche cycle mostly tree line and below off steep, rocky, and shallow features. Also several wind slabs up to size 2 have been noted in the alpine. One wet loose avalanche on Tuesday caused by rockfall on Polar Circus caught two climbers resulting in serious injures.
