Avalanche Forecast

Numerous natural, skier, and explosive-triggered avalanches up to size 3 have been reported over the last couple of days. Several of these avalanches have failed on or scrubbed down to a crust facet layer buried early in February.

Looking forward, it remains likely that humans could trigger high-consequence slab avalanches.

Substantial snowfall associated with strong southwest wind and warming built storm slabs that likely remain touchy. These slabs have loaded weak faceted snow, surface hoar in wind-sheltered terrain, and a hard melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes.

A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried around 80 to 120 cm deep. Weak faceted grains may be found above the crust, which is a recipe for high-consequence avalanches.

The remainder of the snowpack is generally settled.

Friday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 3 to 10 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature - 15 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 4 cm of snow. 20 to 40 southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 30 southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
• Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, avalanches may run surprisingly far.
• Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
• Persistent slabs have potential to pull back to lower angle terrain.