Approach treeline and the alpine with caution as the wind slabs are touchy for triggering avalanches. Good skiing can be found in sheltered areas.
Wind slabs are everywhere in the Alpine and in lee and cross-loaded terrain at Treeline. Human triggering is very likely.
Cornices are large and fragile. If triggered, a cornice failure may trigger a wind slab or a deep persistent slab on the slopes below.
With the recent loading, this layer may become more active. Triggering is more likely is shallow snowpack areas.
Tuesday is forecast for a mix of cloud and sun with light flurries. Winds are expected in the 60-100 km/h range from the SW. Freezing levels are expected to rise to 1200-1500m on Tuesday.
No new avalanches have been reported but things are touchy right now at treeline and above.
This recent storm has left us with 70-90cm of snow. This storm came in with lots of wind, thus the alpine is dominated by wind slabs, while treeline saw a lot of slab conditions in lee and cross loaded terrain. Expect some areas of wind drifting to be over one meter. More strong wind is forecast for Tuesday to only add to our already widespread wind slabs. As recent as Sunday, there was a natural avalanche cycle and it will take some time for this recent storm snow to stabilize. At this time of year, solar radiation can be a huge factor for triggering natural avalanches on sun exposed slopes.
