Use caution in wind loaded areas where slabs are deeper, more cohesive slabs and may be reactive to human traffic.
Fresh snow and strong southwest winds have built new sensitive wind slabs north and east facing slopes. Watch for wind loading mid to low on slopes, and be wary of cross-loaded features.
A layer of large, weak facets exists at the base of the snowpack. Avoid shallow snowpack areas like thin and rocky start zones and areas with variable snow depths. Human triggering is more likely here.
No new avalanches were reported in the region in the last few days. Backcountry users should expect to see evidence of a small natural wind slab avalanche cycle at higher elevations from recent strong winds.
Please post your field observations and photos on the Mountain Information Network. The information is beneficial to forecasters and fellow backcountry users.
5-10 cm of storm snow sits on wind affected surfaces at all elevations. Deeper deposits may be found in north and east facing terrain features due to southwest winds.
The mid-snowpack is generally well settled, with no current layers of concern.
The lower snowpack includes a layer of weak sugary crystals and crusts near the ground. These facets are slowly gaining strength and have not produced recent avalanche activity. We continue to track the layer and watch for any signs that it could wake up and produce very large avalanches.
Sunday Night
Cloudy with isolated flurries, 1-5 cm accumulation. Westerley ridgetop wind 25-40 km/h. Freezing levels drop to the valley bottom. Alpine high of -9 °C.
Monday
Partly cloudy with isolated flurries, 2-3 cm. Southwesterly ridgetop wind 25 km/h. Freezing levels around 700 m. Alpine high of -6 °C.
Cloudy with scattered flurries this evening 5-10 cm.
Tuesday
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, 2-3 cm accumulation. Southwesterly ridgetop wind 25 km/h. Freezing levels around 500 m. Alpine high of -6 °C.
Wednesday
Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, trace accumulation. Westerley ridgetop wind 25-40 km/h. Alpine high of -5 °C. Freezing levels 700 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
