This week's cold temperatures coupled with the shortest daylight hours of the year can make any sort of incident (even broken equipment) an epic. If you decide to brave the cold temps make sure you are prepared for the conditions; bring lots of warm layers and a headlamp.
Recent winds have pressed surfaces and scoured the alpine. Watch for pockets of isolated windslab that are reactive to human triggering. Seek out wind-sheltered terrain where you can avoid wind slabs and find great riding.
No avalanches have been reported in this area recently. If you venture into the backcountry, please submit a MIN report, as it helps to strengthen our data gathering.
Snowpack depths at upper elevations are around 80-100 cm.
Surface: 5 -10 cm of new snow buries previously hard wind-pressed surfaces in the alpine and faceting surfaces in sheltered areas.
Upper-pack: 30 cm of light snow continues to facet with cold temperatures. In exposed areas, you will find a series of old wind slabs and crusts on steep solar slopes.
Mid/lower-pack: Buried 50-70 cm deep, a layer of surface hoar, crust, and faceted crystals. Observations are limited in this region but this layer has produced numerous large avalanches in the neighboring regions. Below this layer, the snowpack is generally weak and faceted.
Sunday Night
Scattered cloud clearing overnight. Winds at 1500m will be light northerly gusting to 30 km/h. Expect temperatures near -25 C.
Monday
Mainly sunny. Temperatures at 1500-1800 m will hover near -21 C. Light winds vary in direction throughout the day.
Tuesday
Sunny with cloudy periods and possible isolated flurries. At 1500m temperature will be around -20 C. Light southwest winds increase to strong throughout the day.
Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. At 1500 m light winds are northerly and temperatures are around -23 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
