West Slopes Central

Avalanche danger is low, but you may still be able to trigger small avalanches on steep and exposed wind drifted features. If you make your way to high consequence terrain where cliffs, gullies, rocks or trees are below you, be sure to investigate any shallow slabs, as you don't want to take even a small ride in these areas. Variable snow surfaces and irregular crusts will make for challenging travel during your outing on Tuesday. 

Avalanche danger is probably minimal on Tuesday. However, just because the danger is LOW doesn't guarantee you won't find any avalanches. This is especially the case if you're pushing into complex and challenging terrain that we don't usually get out to in January because it's uncommon to have such long dry periods with low avalanche danger.

A few people have made it into far reaches of the West Central zone to complete difficult objectives in the last few days. This is a great time to be out doing that, but when completing these objectives you have to be truly dialed in with your assessments of the terrain you're entering, because even a minor problem could still kill you.

Wind has transported small amounts of snow into shallow slabs at mid and upper elevations over the last few days. More wind is expected on Tuesday. New drifts could sit over weak layers and may be touchy. Search for smooth, drifted snow and investigate them before entering high consequence terrain to see how easily they'll slide. Even a small slide wouldn't be ideal if you'll get sent off a cliff or strained through rocks or trees. 

Steep sunny slopes may soften. Rollerballs or small wet avalanches could result. More likely, firm surfaces may not be as hard.

Soft snow or thin crusts on or near the surface is weakening with the cooler temperatures and predominantly clear skies. The top foot or so of snow is faceting (weakening), surface hoar is forming on the surface, and crusts that we've been tracking (predominantly the 1/10 crust up to 2ft deep) is breaking down and faceting. Once we receive more snow, the weak surface layers will likely lead to a very touchy snowpack and large avalanches that don't go away quickly like most of the avalanche problems we've had this winter. 

You can find nearly anything for snow conditions depending on where you travel. There are soft and hard wind slabs and wind swept areas. Hard crusts exist beneath soft snow or wind slabs, or on the surface. Some crusts may be smooth, whereas others may be very irregular and bumpy. Wind-sheltered north-facing aspects still have nice soft snow. Snowline starts at about 2500ft.