Avalanche Forecast

Good - Freezing levels are uncertain

Sunny and warm again on monday with freezing levels climbing as high as 3100m. Winds will be light and no precipitation is expected. A storm is a approaching, but timing is unclear if it will arrive Wednesday or Thursday.

Numerous solar triggered loose wet slides up to size 2.0 were observed today. A cornice triggered size 2.5 slab avalanche occurred sometime in the past 36 hours on a steep NW aspect in the alpine near Chester Lake. Cornice failures have triggered very large slides on underlying slopes over the past week, and remain active with the recent intense solar radiation.

True North aspects remain dry all the way to valley floor, but all other slopes (all aspects, all elevations) have one or more crusts. These crusts were melting and solar triggering of avalanches began on SE aspects by 11:00am and then continued around to the S, then W aspects in the afternoon. Pockets of windslab exist at alpine and treeline elevations on lee aspects and stability tests indicate that these slabs are skier triggerable in steep and unsupported terrain. Cornices are quite large. the February surface hoar and the basal facets have become a concern again as the snowpack transitions to spring-time conditions. Very large avalanches are expected if these layers are triggered by solar radiation and/or cornice failures. Human triggering is also possible from shallow snowpack areas.