Warm temperatures and sun may destabilize the surface snow on sunny slopes.
Shady, sheltered slopes may still provide good riding.
Watch for surface snow becoming moist on sunny slopes. Rollerballing and pinwheeling are indications that the snow is primed for wet loose avalanches.
With this extended period of clear weather, faceting in the upper snowpack has encouraged sluffing with human traffic in steep terrain.
Otherwise, no new avalanches have been reported. If you venture into the backcountry, please consider submitting your observations to the MIN.
A sun crust up to 5 cm thick caps the snowpack on steep south-facing slopes, while new surface hoar is forming in many areas. Alpine and treeline ridgelines are generally wind-affected.
In sheltered terrain, the upper snowpack may contain one or more layers of surface hoar buried sometime in January, but none of these seem to have enough slab property above it to be an avalanche problem right now.
A layer of surface hoar, facets, and/or crust buried in early December is 50 to 120 cm deep. An absence of recent activity suggests it is no longer a significant concern, however, it is still producing occasional, concerning snowpack test results.
The lower snowpack is generally strong and bonded.
Sunday Night
Clear. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C
Monday
Sunny. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. An above freezing layer above 2500 m. Treeline temperature 0 °C.
Tuesday
Sunny. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. An above freezing layer above 2000 m. Treeline temperature -2°C.
Wednesday
Sunny. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Possible above freezing layer above 2500 m. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
