Assess for the bond of the new snow, as newly formed slabs could become touchy to riders. Treat the hazard as Considerable if you find more than 20 cm of new snow in your local riding area.
A weak layer of faceted grains above a hard melt-freeze crust persists around 80 to 150 cm deep. It is most triggerable by humans in thin, rocky alpine terrain where the layer is closer to the snow surface.
New slabs may form over the day, particularly for areas that receive greater than 15 cm of snow. The snow could be touchy to riders, as it may overly surface hoar crystals on shaded northerly aspects or a hard melt-freeze crust elsewhere.
Riders triggered a few small wind slabs and sluffs in steep terrain on Tuesday.
The latest persistent slab avalanches occurred late last week in alpine terrain on all aspects during daytime warming and from cornice falls. The likelihood of similar persistent slab activity is decreased at this time. Human triggering is most likely in thin, rocky alpine areas where the layer is close to the snow surface and there isn't a thick near-surface melt-freeze crust.
Around 10 to 30 cm of snow is forecast to accumulate by Thursday afternoon, with the most forecast for Blue River area. On northerly alpine terrain the new snow will load surface hoar crystals that overly soft or wind affect snow. Elsewhere, the snow will build over a hard melt-freeze crust.
A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried anywhere from 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a weak layer of faceted grains above it that are slowly strengthening.
The remainder of the snowpack is settled.
Wednesday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Thursday
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.
Saturday
Partly cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
