Avalanche Forecast

A large (size 3), naturally triggered deep persistent slab avalanche in alpine terrain was reported Saturday. It occurred just north of Glacier National Park.

Have a look at this blog post that highlights several recent, similar large avalanches occurring on layers deep within the snowpack.

The upper snowpack is generally well-settled and consolidated with no significant layers of concern.

A layer of surface hoar down roughly 50 to 90 cm remains problematic despite many recent signs of reactivity. A hard crust above this layer likely protects it from human-triggering at lower elevations.

Weak basal facets characterize the bottom of the snowpack.

Monday night

Mostly cloudy with no precipitation, southwest alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature - 7 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy with no precipitation, south alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with trace snow amounts, south alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with trace snow amounts, southwest alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
• Uncertainty is best managed through conservative terrain choices at this time.