Sugarbowl

Wind slabs are the primary concern. Watch for soft pockets of fresh wind slab as well as old, stiff wind slabs in leeward terrain features at upper elevations.

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• We are uncertain whether the wind will be enough to form new wind slabs.

During the storm on the weekend, a widespread natural avalanche cycle occurred, with wind slabs to size 3.5 on north to east aspects at upper elevations and loose wet up to size 2 below treeline.

Since then, the only report of avalanche activity was a size 1 loose dry ski cut running on the recent crust in steep terrain at treeline.

10-20 cm of dry snow may form fresh pockets of wind slab over a firm wind-sculpted upper snowpack and crust below 1600m.

A crust buried in February exists at variable depths, generally 100 to 160 cm deep. For the most part, it is well bonded to the surrounding snow but in isolated, wind-sheltered areas, weak surface hoar crystals may sit atop this crust.

The remainder of the snowpack is consolidated with no other significant layers of concern.

Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 3 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 3 cm of snow. 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Friday
Mostly sunny. 1 to 3 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.