Ice climbers: in the Front (Eastern) Ranges, avalanche hazard is higher than rated. Avoid hard, cardboard-like Wind Slab, especially around terrain traps like cliffs and gullys.
Weather Forecast
Thursday: Light upslope event : Cloudy with light snowfall. A minor inversion sees alpine temps around -17, with Valley Floor temps falling into the -20's. Light- Moderate Easterly winds.Friday: Slowly clearing, chance of flurries, -27 at Treeline. Moderate NE winds slowly easing.Saturday: Clear. Moderate-Strong Westerly winds, -25 with inversion.
Snowpack Summary
30cm of storm snow has been blown into windslabs (or scree) at all elevations in the East, but remains low density in the West. This overlies several buried wind slab layers, beneath which are dense facets bonding well to a crust near ground. Snowpack tests at Treeline indicated some potential for shears in the facets below the wind slabs.
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, Wind Slabs in gulleys in Eastern areas were observed to be touchy, often on cross-loaded gully walls (terrain traps). On Wednesday, several large avalanches were observed: A Size 2 Cornice failure, several size 2 Wind Slabs on N and NE facing Alpine slopes, and a fresh Size 2.5 Wind Slab on a NE aspect slope at 2350m.
Confidence
Wind speed and direction is uncertain on Friday
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.