Choose mellow terrain and watch for signs of instability like whumpfs, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
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A layer of surface hoar 30 to 60 cm deep buried at the end of January has been most reactive where a slab exists above it. We may see human triggered avalanches become more widespread as any lower density snow also starts to settle into a slab.
On Tuesday, several small to large (up to size 2) human triggered avalanches were reported. See this MIN for an example. Most of these avalanches failed on a layer of surface hoar buried at the end of January, and involved the recent storm snow, or associated wind slabs.
We expect human triggered avalanches like these to remain likely for the next few days.
Storm snow totals range from 30 to 60 cm. Deeper deposits are found in wind-loaded areas. The new snow is bonding poorly to old surfaces, which include melt-freeze crusts on sun-exposed slopes, surface hoar or facets on shaded slopes, and wind-affected snow in exposed terrain.
A weak layer of surface hoar buried, 30 to 80cm deep, has been the culprit of many natural and human-triggered avalanches this week. Where this layer is preserved it will remain reactive to human triggering.
The lower snowpack is strong and bonded.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. Up to 2 cm of snow. 5 to 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Thursday
A mix of sun and cloud. Light variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.
Friday
Sunny. 5 to 15 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.
Saturday
Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h SW ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
