Watch for whumphing or cracking in the new snow. Remote-triggering is a real possibility as the surface snow becomes more a cohesive slab.
Weather Forecast
Isolated flurries today, not amounting to much. Winds will be light to moderate westerlies at ridge-top. Freezing levels remain at valley bottom. Moving into the weekend, light snow will arrive Saturday afternoon with freezing levels rising to 1300m Saturday night and moderate westerly winds. Sunday brings continued light snow and moderate winds.
Snowpack Summary
In the alpine up to 35 cm of new snow buries the January 4th interface. This interface is surface hoar in protected areas, sun crust on steep S - SW aspects and loose facets at tree-line and below. Where wind-affected, soft slabs have formed in lee features. At lower elevations, the mild temp's are settling the new snow into very soft slabs.
Avalanche Summary
A size 3 slab pulled out of the Crossover path yesterday (Herdman Couloir, Mt Macdonald). The start zone is steep, N-Facing rocky terrain, but the path is a perfect skiing angle. This ran further than initially expected. Several size 1-1.5 slabs were observed from SE-SW paths off of MT Tupper, all propagating on the Jan 4 interface.
Confidence
Wind effect is extremely variable
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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.