Buried surface hoar at tree line and in the alpine remains susceptible to human triggering where it exists and hasn't already failed.
Good riding can be found in conservative terrain above tree line.
Lower elevation and ski-outs are crusty with frozen chunder, travel with caution.
With plenty of snow available for transport and moderate winds over the weekend expect to find pockets of reactive wind slab at tree line and in the alpine.
A buried crust (felt by pole probing) has bridged this problem at lower elevations. Pay careful attention to when this crust disappears (~2100m). If there is no crust, there will be a higher likelihood of triggering the persistent weak layer (Dec 1 surface hoar) buried by 60-80cm of snow.
Expect loose snow avalanches to run in steep terrain. These could gain significant mass once they have the momentum to scrub down to the crust.
Reports of rider-triggered wind slabs in wind-prone areas in the Asulkan Valley. A large powder cloud was observed below Forever Young during a strong wind event on Saturday afternoon.
On Friday a group remotely triggered a size 2 avalanche in a steep rocky roll from 20m away along the ridge near Balu Pass.
25-45cm of recent snow sits on top of a rain crust up to ~2200m.
Surface hoar is buried down 60-80cm and continues to give 'sudden' results in snowpack tests and whumpfs in untraveled terrain.
The base of the snowpack is facetted at upper elevations.
The height of snow at treeline is ~130cm, which is below average for this time of year, watch out for early-season hazards.
5cm is forecasted to fall overnight on Sunday. Monday will be cloudy with sunny periods as a ridge of high pressure settles in.
Ridgetop winds will be light from the North to West with an alpine high of -5. There is a chance of a temperature inversion with cooler temps in the valley bottom.
There is a warming trend for the week, with a small amount of snow forecasted for Thursday.
