Avalanche Forecast

Good - The weather pattern is stable

No significant precipitation in the near forecast, The freezing level remains near 1500 m for the most part, but will drop to valley bottom Saturday afternoon, then climb to 1500 m again for Sunday. Winds will be light NW for the most part with a mix of sun and cloud.

Small (size 1-1.5) skier-triggered wind slabs have been reported in exposed alpine terrain, and loose snow sluffing in steep terrain. One observer reported seeing a couple of natural size 2-2.5 slabs from steep solar aspects that were loaded by recent Northwest winds.

Variable recent storm snow totals across the region are generally in the 5-25 cm range. The snow surface varies with elevation and aspect with respect to sun and wind exposure, and includes dry new snow, loose facetted snow, wind slabs, and sun crusts. The mid-February crust is down around 10-30 cm where it isn't wind loaded or scoured. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer (up to 100 cm deep) and the mid-January surface hoar (80-120 cm deep) are generally dormant, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased. However, triggering may be possible with a large input such as cornice fall, or an avalanche stepping down, especially on slopes that see a lot of sun.