Seek out the sheltered, lower angle snow now that the winds have reworked the upper snowpack. Another round of strong wind and new snow for Wednesday should give wind slab hazards a refresh.
The primary concern is wind slabs lurking on the leeward sides of ridges, ribs, and rolls in the terrain.
If you find snow that is dense at the surface, but cold and soft below (i.e. upside down), increase caution on steeper rolls regardless of aspect or wind effect.
MONDAY NIGHT: Thin cloud cover. Light southwest winds increasing in the morning.
TUESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Moderate southwest winds, increasing over the day and evening. Alpine high temperatures around -9.
WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with increasing flurries bringing about 10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.
THURSDAY: Cloudy. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -8.
Reports of avalanche activity in the region are still limited, but two large (audible) natural slides were noted on Saturday by the Yukon field team as they performed snowpack observations near the summit of White Pass.
With strong southerly winds having replaced recent exceptional powder riding with a new array of wind slabs over the terrain, human triggered slabs are once again the primary concern.
The most likely place to trigger an avalanche is on the leeward (think north through east) side of ridges and ribs where new wind slabs were formed.
Snowpack is 200 cm in Whitepass, closer to 100 cm in drier areas like the Wheaton.
Eight to ten hours of moderate to strong southwest winds overnight Friday & early Saturday morning resulted in widespread wind scouring and loading, forming wind slabs and cornices in the process. These hazards are likely to remain sensitive to human or machine triggers over the next few days.
Below this surface snow lies a widespread melt-freeze crust. The crust has been reported up to 1400 m in the Wheaton Valley, up to 1800 m near the Alaska border.
The lower snowpack is generally settled and strong after a massive storm at the beginning of December. However, there is potential for weak snow at the bottom of the snowpack in colder drier areas such as the Wheaton Valley.
