Continue to observe for signs of the lingering weak layer buried in our snowpack.
Weather Forecast
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear skies, freezing level below valley bottom.THURSDAY: Increasing clouds over the day, moderate southwest winds, alpine temperature -3 C, freezing level below valley bottom.FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 5 cm, light to moderate southwest winds, alpine temperature -2 C, freezing level below valley bottom.SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 5 cm, alpine temperature -3 C, freezing level below valley bottom.
Avalanche Summary
A few small pockets of wind slabs were triggered by skiers on Wednesday. Otherwise, no new avalanches were observed on Wednesday or Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
Around 10 cm of wind-affected snow overlies hard wind-consolidated snow in exposed terrain and a melt-freeze crust on southerly aspects. You may be able to find isolated pockets of wind slab in steep alpine terrain features. Beneath this, around 10 to 40 cm of snow overlies a weak layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on shady and sheltered slopes. This layer may be most prominent between 1500 m and 1900 m.The remainder of the snowpack is generally well-settled. Thin snowpack areas, such as in the east of the region, may find weak and sugary faceted grains near the base of the snowpack.
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.