The biggest risk right now is the cold! -25 with wind can be brutal. Bring lots of clothing, hot shots for your hands, big mitts and ask yourself if you really need to be out for long in this weather. Don't get injured or stuck out overnight!
Weather Forecast
The cold and clear weather will continue through the week, with overnight lows in some areas hitting -30. No new snow in the forecast, but there is some hope of warmer air starting this weekend, and perhaps even reaching -5 by Monday.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack is mostly faceted, and grows weaker each day with these cold temperatures. Recent snowpack tests near Sunshine showed loose facets in the upper 30 cm, which have no cohesion and are creating the Loose Dry problem. Also 40 cm above the ground is the Nov 12 crust, also growing weaker each day.
Avalanche Summary
No significant slab avalanches have reported or observed in the past week. Loose snow avalanches are occurring out of steeper terrain, mostly related to facetting.
Confidence
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.