Assess for new wind slabs as you gain elevation, warming temperatures may increase their sensitivity to triggering.
Newly formed wind slabs could be found in exposed terrain on all aspects due to variable wind over the past few days. These slabs may be sensitive to rider traffic due to the weak layers underneath.
A widespread weak layer is buried 40 to 60 cm deep. This layer may be triggerable where the snow feels stiff or cohesive above it.
At the time of publishing, no new avalanches were reported in the past 7 days.
An average of 5 cm of recent storm snow, with up to 25 cm in isolated hotspots near the border, has fallen with variable wind, potentially forming wind slab on all aspects. In sheltered terrain this new snow may overlie soft, faceted snow or surface hoar. In exposed terrain it will overlie a sun crust or wind-affected snow.
At lower elevations a new crust could be on or near the surface.
A weak layer from late January, buried 40 to 60 cm deep, is a hard crust in many areas but consists of facets or surface hoar on sheltered upper-elevation slopes.
A crust from December is buried 80 to 140 cm deep, with facets around it in shallow snowpack areas. Otherwise, the lower snowpack is strong and bonded.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy with trace amounts of snow. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 700 m.
Wednesday
Cloudy with up to 5 mm of mixed precipitation. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1600 m.
Thursday
Cloudy with up to 20 mm of mixed precipitation. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1400 m.
Friday
Cloudy with up to 8 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1800 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
