It's an early season snowpack out there with hidden hazards at lower elevations.
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud today with isolated flurries producing trace amounts of snow. The alpine temperature will reach -6.0 with freezing levels climbing to 1300m and light SW winds. This stable weather with trace amounts of precipitation continues for the weekend. On Monday, a strong front arrives bringing the next significant load of new snow.
Snowpack Summary
In the past 48hrs 15-20cm of new snow buried surface hoar at treeline and sheltered alpine locations, creating a new weak layer (November 21 surface hoar). A 20cm crust left over from late October sits on the ground and may be poorly bonded on some high elevation north aspects. Snow depth is 60cm at 1300m and 150cm at 2000m.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche control for verification of artillery produced a size 2.0 from a high alpine start zone. No natural avalanches were observed.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.