Another 10-20cm of snow was a welcome sight the last couple of days. The skiing has improved but be cautious of the extremely icy crusts that are hiding underneath. Going for a slide on this crust could have serious consequences in the wrong place.
Weather Forecast
Cool temperatures, overcast skies and maybe a few cms of snow are forecast for Friday. The snow should taper off by Saturday but temperatures will remain below -10 for daytime highs through Saturday. Light north winds will continue until Saturday as well, maybe blowing to moderate in the alpine. Sunday should clear off and start to warm up.
Snowpack Summary
The recent upslope storm left 20-30cm of new snow. Light NW winds with this storm deposited slightly more to unusual slopes. This new snow is sitting on crusts on steep sun facing slopes or old windslabs (again from NW winds) at ridge crests. The Feb 14 crusts is now down 25 to 55cm and carries well below 2000m. In places this crust is very slick.
Avalanche Summary
The new snow has been sluffing out of steep terrain over the last 24 hours but there has been no evidence of any deeper avalanches.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.