Use extra caution in wind-affected terrain
Wind slabs have been sensitive to rider traffic due to underlying weak layers.
Expect fresh, reactive wind slabs to be forming as new snow accumulates with moderate to strong south and southeast winds.
In some areas this wind slab may be sitting on weak surface hoar or facets.
A weak layer buried 100 to 300 cm remains a concern.
Avoid shallow rocky areas where the snow transitions from thick to thin and triggering this layer is more likely.
If triggered the resulting avalanche would be very large and destructive.
On Wednesday ski cutting produced numerous size 1 wind slab avalanches. These avalanches were on north aspects at treeline and above, they were easy to trigger due to surface hoar beneath.
By Friday morning up to 20 cm of recent storm snow may have fallen with southerly wind forming deeper deposits on northerly aspects. This recent snow will overlie a variety of surfaces including a layer of surface hoar in sheltered terrain and wind-affected snow or a crust in exposed terrain.
In sheltered terrain 40 to 70 cm of faceted snow overlies a crust and layer of surface hoar from late January.
Another layer of surface hoar was buried near the middle of January and can be found 50 to 100 cm deep.
A weak layer of facets and a crust from early December varies in depth from 100 to 300 cm. This layer remains a concern in this region.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with around 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Friday
Cloudy with around 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with 15 to 20 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with 20 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1400 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
