Avalanches may remain triggerable on a weak layer in wind-loaded terrain features at upper elevations that do not have a surface crust.
A weak layer of surface hoar on a melt freeze crust is buried on average less than 30 cm deep, but deeper pockets likely exist in wind-loaded areas. Both the likelihood of triggering and consequence are greatest in places where it is deepest.
A natural avalanche cycle occurred last weekend with numerous slab avalanches up to size 2. All of these appeared to fail on the late-January surface hoar/crust/facet layer outlined in the snowpack summary.
While avalanche activity has largely decreased since last weekend, several small (size 1 to 1.5) human-triggered avalanches have occurred throughout the week on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.
Surfaces are a mix of refrozen crust and moist snow.
10 to 30 cm of snow sits over the late-January weak layer. This layer consists of a melt-freeze crust of variable thickness, with a possibility of surface hoar on top and faceted snow above and/or below the crust. This layer remains a concern at upper elevations that lack a robust crust on the surface.
The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled, with no significant concerns.
Friday Night
Mostly clear skies. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level dropping 3000 to 1500 m.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 1 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Monday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
