With a sunny spring day, check for good overnight re-freeze and make sure to be off slopes before they turn mushy or wet.
Cornices are very large and are becoming more fragile with each day of warming. Stand well back on ridges and avoid travelling beneath them during the heat of the day.
Use caution on sun-exposed slopes when the sun is shining. Relatively warm air and sun can pack a punch, causing loose wet avalanches that may entrain recent snow and travel far.
Keep in mind that any snowpack can quickly loose strength when heat penetrates to deeper layers for the first time. Check for good overnight recovery - avoid slopes that do not get an overnight re-freeze.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy, 10 km/h west wind, alpine low temperature -6 C, freezing level falling to 1600 m.
SUNDAY: Sunny, 10 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature high +8 C, overnight re-freeze and daytime freezing level rising to 2500 m.
MONDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks, west wind gusting to 60 km/h, alpine high temperature +5 C, poor overnight re-freeze with freezing level hovering around 2200 m.
TUESDAY: Wet flurries, 10 cm. West wind gusting to 40 km/h, alpine high temperature +6 C, daytime freezing level rising above 2200 m.
On Thursday, one report noted a rider-triggered avalanche in a steep, north-facing chute. The slab was 20 cm thick and reportedly ran a long distance. Otherwise a few small wet loose avalanches were observed.
Please consider posting your observations to the Mountain Information Network to supplement our data stream and help fellow recreationists.
Sun and warm temperatures have moistened the snow on most surfaces to at least 2200m and higher on solar slopes. The snowpack has transitioned to spring-time conditions, with moist snow and crusts on most slopes, and isolated and lingering winter-ish conditions at the highest shaded elevations. Overall the snowpack is strong, consisting of hard snow and various melt-freeze crusts. At ridge top, remember that cornices are large and looming.
Keep in mind that any snowpack can quickly loose strength when heat penetrates to deeper layers for the first time. Check for good overnight recovery - avoid slopes that do not get an overnight re-freeze.
