Treeline and below, 20 to 30 cm of storm snow rests on surface hoar which teeters on the brink of becoming a touchy storm slab problem.
A couple of weak layers formed in late November and early December are now sitting about 1 m below the surface. This layer may present as surface hoar, a crust, facets or a combination of those, depending on elevation and aspect.
20 to 30 cm of recent storm snow rests on a widespread layer of large surface hoar. The storm snow is teetering on the edge of becoming a potentially touchy slab problem.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with clear periods, light to moderate northwest wind, alpine high temperature -10 C.
MONDAY: Flurries, accumulation 5-10 cm, moderate southwest wind, alpine high temperature -9 C.
TUESDAY: Flurries, accumulation 5-15 cm, moderate southwest wind, alpine high temperature -4 C.
WEDNESDAY: Scattered flurries, moderate south wind, alpine high temperature -6 C.
On Saturday there were 3 reports of skier triggered persistent and storm slab avalanches running on surface hoar buried 25-50 cm deep. These ranged from size 1 to 2 and were on north, west and south aspects between 1400 and 2000m. Two of these were remotely triggered (from a distance).
Reports from Friday were limited to small wind slabs and loose dry avalanches in steep features at treeline.
20-30 cm of new snow has covered a widespread layer of large, feathery surface hoar crystals. The new snow can be expected to gain cohesion and settle into a slab treeline and below.
A weak layer formed in late November is now buried around 1 m below the surface. This is the layer of concern relating to the persistent slab avalanche problem. The weak layer may present as surface hoar, a crust, facets or a combination, depending on elevation and aspect. Below this, a variety of crusts from late October are buried deeper in the snowpack.
