Navigate around wind loaded slopes and keep in mind the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to isolated weak layers.
Strong southwest wind and a series of moderate snowfalls over the past few days has likely left wind slabs in steep leeward terrain.
Triggering large avalanches on weaknesses in the lower snowpack remains a possibility. In some areas the concern is weak snow around crusts 50 to 100 cm deep, while in others it's weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack. This problem is best managed by avoiding steep rocky slopes and approaching avalanche terrain with caution.
A weak front crosses the region on Wednesday then clearing weather into the weekend.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Cloudy, strong southwest wind, temperatures around -8 C.
WEDNESDAY: Isolated flurries throughout the day with up to 5 cm of snow, strong west wind, temperatures around -4 C.
THURSDAY: Cloudy in the morning then clearing in the afternoon, light north wind, temperatures around -6 C.
FRIDAY: Sunny, light wind, temperatures around -6 C.
No new avalanches have been reported since the weekend when there were some small (size 1) human triggered storm slabs and numerous larger (size 2-3) natural storm slab avalanches in alpine and treeline terrain.
Moderate snowfalls and strong southwest wind over the past few days has left hard surfaces and wind slabs in exposed terrain. The upper snowpack consists of several layers of old wind slabs, while the lower snowpack consists of decomposing crusts and weak faceted snow. Some large avalanches were reported on these deeper layers on Dec 23 and 25, but for the most part they have not been reactive over the past few weeks. However, this snowpack structure is always a concern on steep rocky slopes with variable snowpack depths.
