East Slopes South

Avalanches remain unlikely. Increasing freezing levels and light winds should help sunny slopes soften, so watch for minor wet snow instabilities around cliffy or steep south-facing terrain. Challenging travel will remain a primary mountain hazard during this period. 

Monday is forecast to be warmer and less windy. This should help wet snow form on solar slopes (SW-SE) as the day progresses. Wet snow impacts should be minimal as the snowpack is well adjusted to fluctuations at this point, but still watch for signs of warming in places where a small avalanche could have a less-than-ideal outcome. 

NWAC Forecaster, Payton Schiff traveled into the Burnt Mountain area on Sunday. She found tolerable travel and widespread weak surfaces. She also reported weak facets adjacent to the 1/10 crust on N-E aspects. You can check out her observation here.  While these weak surfaces aren't an issue right now, they will be worth watching as the weather changes later this week. Observations throughout the region continue to report a similar weak, faceted upper snowpack. 

High pressure from January left its mark on the snowpack across the East South forecast area. Lower elevations can be challenging (especially in the trees), surfaces are often slick, and some steeper solar aspects have melted down to bare ground. Numerous long, sliding falls have been reported across the region, which highlights how firm the snow can be in exposed terrain. That said, good riding on ‘recycled powder’ can still be found on open slopes facing north or east. 

Triggering a wind slab has trended unlikely, but necessarily impossible. This past weekend weather stations reported strong NE winds across the region.  These high speeds may have drifted available snow into thin slabs in rocky, alpine terrain. Look for surface clues like ripples, dunes, and pillow-like slabs to help you anticipate where wind-stiffened slabs exist.  

If you get out into the mountains, let us know what you see by submitting an observation here.