Buried surface hoar remains the primary avalanche concern, and may be prone to human-triggering where present.
A problematic layer of surface hoar exists down roughly 60 to 100 cm from the surface. This is currently an ideal depth for human triggering.
Despite the lack of reported avalanche activity, the buried surface hoar continues to cause concerning results in snowpack tests and shows signs of instability like whumpfs and shooting cracks.
If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
The upper snowpack continues to settle and stabilize with mild temperatures and minimal wind. A layer of recently buried surface hoar in the upper 30 cm may persist in wind-sheltered terrain. A crust formed during the early December rain event exists down roughly 30 to 60 cm from the surface and is highly variable in strength, and thickness at this time.
A concerning layer of buried surface hoar is 60 to 100 cm below the surface at treeline and above.
Lower snowpack is generally facetted, with no particular layers of concern currently. The height of snow at treeline is roughly 80 to 150 cm.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Wednesday
Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, west alpine winds 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.
Thursday
Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.
Friday
Cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow, south alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
