Avalanche Forecast

High -

An Arctic air mass keeps things cold and dry until Tuesday, when there is a change to cloud, milder temperatures and moderate south-westerly winds.More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

A very large, widespread avalanche cycle was observed on Thursday, and explosives control continued to get large results on Friday. Slopes of all aspects and elevations ran, some going full path to valley floor, smashing mature timber. These failed on all of the persistent weak layers discussed in the snowpack section. Avalanches involving only the recent storm snow were also very large.The natural cycle is winding down, but human-triggering remains a real concern. You might be surprised by how large an avalanche can be triggered and how far it could run.

30-60 cm recent storm snow may have been shifted into wind slabs on slopes lee to recent south-west through north-west winds. Fragile cornices can be found in some areas. Sun crusts or moist snow may be found on solar aspects.Several persistent weak layers make up a troublesome snowpack which is not tolerating the recent load. In the top 1-2 m of the snowpack, two surface hoar/ crust layers buried in January can be found. Expect to find one or other of these on all aspects and elevations.Deeper in the snowpack (around 200 cm deep) is a facet/crust/surface hoar layer from December, most prevalent at and below treeline.Near the base of the snowpack is a crust/facet combo, most likely to be triggered from thin spots in the alpine.All of these layers have produced large avalanches recently. The wide distribution and ongoing reactivity of these layers suggests that avoidance through choosing simple terrain is the best strategy.