Avoid big slopes overhead: Avalanches continue to be remotely triggered and are propagating widely. Watch for shooting cracks and whumpfing indicating a touchy snowpack.
Wind affected snow can be found on most aspects. Watch for the 'typical' wind loaded features near ridgelines, and unusual features like cross-loaded gullies and ribs, or wind deposited snow lower on a slope than normal.
Two layers of significant concern exist in the upper meter of the snowpack. They have been very reactive to human and machine triggers recently.
Numerous natural and human-triggered avalanches have occurred across the region. These include several very large (size 3) remotely triggered slabs.
Remote triggers indicate a sensitive snowpack and the need for very conservative terrain choices.
Recent avalanches have occurred on all aspects and at various elevations, on buried weak layers up to 100 cm deep.
Click on the photos below for more details.
40 to 70 cm of recent snow has been moved by strong winds from various directions at upper elevations. This snow sits over facets and a crust, and in isolated areas, buried surface hoar. Soft snow can still be found in lower-elevation terrain that is sheltered from the wind.
A thick crust with weak facets on top is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer has been problematic, producing very large step-down avalanches.
Reports show the recent snow is not bonding well to these older weak layers, producing ongoing reactivity including remote triggering of avalanches.
Below, the mid and lower snowpack is generally well-bonded and strong.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 25 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -12 °C.
Friday
A mix of sun and cloud with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -8 °C.
Saturday
A mix of sun and cloud with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -10 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 25 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -12 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
