Thin slabs lurk in alpine and tree-line lee features. Use caution when rolling into your proposed line.
Weather Forecast
Today expect sun with cloudy periods, light north winds at ridge-top, and alpine temp's may reach -13*C. More of the same for Thursday and Friday, with clouds and milder temp's expected over the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
SW winds have created windslabs along the lee of alpine ridges and cross-loaded features. These sit on a variety of old surfaces, from hard windslab, to breakable crust, to faceted soft snow in protected areas. Field snowpack tests are producing mod-hard resistant planar results in the upper 40-60cm.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous loose and storm slab avalanches were observed Monday from Mt Macdonald and Mt Tupper on steep, unskiable terrain. This occurred during Monday's wind event and debris was observed to spread widely across the fans. A few natural size 1-1.5 slab avalanches, likely from Monday, were observed from steep N-facing terrain on Avalanche Crest.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.