Avalanche Forecast

Only small, dry loose avalanches in steep terrain have been reported in the past couple of days. Avalanche activity is expected to increase rapidly with incoming snow.

Another 20 to 30 cm is expected by the end of day on Saturday. This will add to the 20 to 30 cm that has buried a variety of weak layers including surface hoar and facets in sheltered terrain, a crust on south and west-facing slopes as well as old wind slab on exposed terrain.

The widespread crust buried in early February is near the surface on exposed alpine terrain and down up to 50 cm elsewhere. In many areas, this crust has a layer of facets above.

Friday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h west alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with up to 15 cm of snow. 15 to 35 km/h west alpine wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with 20 to 40 cm of snow. 35 to 60 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Monday

Partly cloudy with up to 10 cm of snow. 15 km/h west alpine wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Shooting cracks, whumphs and recent avalanches are strong indicators of an unstable snowpack.
• Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
• Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.
• Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.