Human triggering of the persistent and deep persistent layers remains the main concern. Watch for a weakening of the snowpack due to solar heating and possible heat triggered cornice failures when the skies clear over the next few days.
Several persistent weak layers are down 40-110 cm. The buried sun crusts on steep solar slopes that have been the greatest concern are now covered by more recent crusts making triggering in these locations less likely but still possible. Meanwhile the weak facets that can be found at these same interfaces on shaded aspects remain a concern.
The weak depth hoar at the bottom of the snowpack inspires little confidence. Give careful consideration to slopes overhead as large avalanches may run into lower-angle terrain. Avoid big steep terrain features and places where a large trigger like a cornice fall could impact the slopes below. Also be cautious in thin or rocky areas, where triggering the basal weakness is more likely.
A couple of skier triggered avalanches were reported on Saturday in the Massive Mountain and Observation Sub Peak areas. These failed on layers down 25-100 cm and show that human triggering of various buried layers is still possible.
5-10 cm of storm snow sits over buried temperature crusts to 1500 m, sun crusts to ridgetop on solar aspects, and facets on shaded slopes. The midpack in this area has several crust and facet layers 30-110 cm down, that remain a concern in steep terrain. The bottom of the snowpack consists of weak basal facets in many areas, with sudden test failures still occuring on these facets.
Scattered light flurries with a couple cm's of new snow Sunday night into Monday morning. A clearing trend starts mid-day on Monday as a high pressure system moves into the area. Alpine highs between -5 and -8°C with light NW winds are forecast. Clear skies and cool temperatures Monday night with sunshine expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
