Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

No new avalanches were reported in this region on Saturday.

On Friday, a helicopter landing on a slope remotely triggered several size 2 persistent slab avalanches on a north aspect in the alpine south of Golden. The avalanches failed on the crust which was down 80 to 110 cm in that location.

5 to 15 cm of recent snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces, except for northerly aspects at upper elevations.

A widespread crust with sugary facets above is down 40 to 110 cm. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the most likely places to trigger this layer. However, when a thick surface crust is present, human triggering this layer is unlikely.

The bottom of the snowpack is generally weak and faceted, with the potential to produce very large avalanches. The most likely areas to trigger this deeply buried weak layer are steep, rocky areas in the alpine with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack.

Sunday night

Clear skies. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Monday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Tuesday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Check out the Mountain Weather Forecast for additional weather information.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
• Conditions may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
• Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.