The Winter Permit System is no longer in effect.
Weather Forecast
An ridge of high pressure with arctic air should keep things cool and mostly dry through tomorrow, with increasing sun. Dry conditions should persist, but a gradual warming trend through the week will bring freezing levels up to 2000m by Wednesday. Winds will pick up again tonight; increasing to moderate NW'ly for the outlook.
Snowpack Summary
Rain to 1900m turned to snow early Saturday. Above 1900m up to 20cm of snow overlies a variety of surfaces including crusts, surface hoar and moist isothermal snow. SW winds loaded lee slopes but have backed off overnight. The April 3rd crust is down around 50-60 cm. Snow below treeline is isothermal, but cooler temps are holding it together.
Avalanche Summary
Recent avalanches have mostly been skier triggered in extreme alpine terrain. Last week, there were two skier accidental's: A size 3.0 on the east face of Mt Swanzy, depth 100cm, 150m wide, suspect April 3 crust. Skiers were not involved. A size 2.0, Forever Young couloir, ran to 2/3 fan. Skier got taken down to the fan before self arresting.
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.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.