Cold temperatures and the possibility of large avalanches are good reasons to dial back terrain choices and stick to simple objectives if you do plan to go out.
Watch for signs of slab formation in the new snow, particularly in areas loaded by north winds and where buried surface hoar could be preserved (think sheltered openings at mid elevations).
Recent storm snow covers a crust and isolated surface hoar which has produced natural and rider-trigger avalanches. Investigate this interface. As the fresh snow settles and gains cohesion, a reactive upper snowpack may form.
A natural avalanche cycle up to size 2.5 was reported Wednesday continuing into Thursday, including remotely triggered avalanches to size 2. Most storm slab avalanches ran on surface hoar buried on Jan 4. A few size 1-2 wind slabs 30-60 cm deep were triggered by rider traffic, these occurred on north-to-east aspects above 2200 m.
Roughly 40-60 cm of new snow fell in the region early this week. It buried a mix of crusts, surface hoar, and facets. Areas where surface hoar may be preserved are of greatest concern.
A crust formed by early December rain is found ~70 cm deep, and an old layer of surface hoar 60-100 cm deep. Recent observations suggest triggering this layer is unlikely. The lower snowpack is variable throughout the region and weak basal facets are likely to be found on the ground in shallow snowpack areas.
Friday night
Clear. North alpine wind 10-40 km/h. Treeline temperature -30 °C.
Saturday
Sunny. Variable alpine wind, gusting to 30 km/h at ridgetop. Treeline temperature -26 °C.
Sunday
Partly cloudy. Northwest alpine wind 20-50 km/h. Treeline temperature -22 °C.
Monday
Sunny. Variable, Variable alpine wind 30-60 km/h. Treeline temperature -20 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
