Avalanche hazard on solar aspects will increase to CONSIDERABLE or higher with the intense solar radiation. Start your trip early and finish early. Avoid exposure to solar aspects and cornices after mid-morning. Sheltered polar aspects still have dry snow.
Wind slabs (recently buried) exist in the upper snowpack that feel drummy and cakey in some areas. Be aware of the potential for wide propagations. Take the time to dig down and evaluate the interfaces in each specific terrain feature.
This weekend will be the warmest we have seen this Spring. This is a good time to respect those monstrous cornices.
Intense solar radiation at this time of year can quickly elevate avalanche activity on solar aspects. Time your exposure to these slopes to avoid the heat of the day.
Sunday will be a mix of sun and cloud with moderate to strong SW winds. Overnight temperatures near -9 will climb quickly to around +3 at treeline by late morning. Freezing levels could reach as high as 2700 to 3000m.
Several loose wet up to size 1.5 were observed, mainly on steeper solar aspects.
One large naturally triggered size 3 slab avalanche was observed on a SE aspect in the Alpine. This slab exhibited wide propagation, was approximately 60cm deep and occurred after only a couple of hours of sun shining directly on it.
The snowpack continues its transition to Spring. Moist snow on Saturday up to at least 2600m on solar aspects, and likely higher. This will turn into a crust by morning, but will quickly melt again by late morning on Sunday. Expect loose wet avalanches on solar aspects and sensitive cornices when they exposed to sun/heat. On non-solar aspects there are still some buried wind slabs in the upper 60 to 80cm of the snowpack that are worth investigating before committing to bigger terrain.
