Be cautious in alpine and tree-line elevations where winds have stiffened the surface into a slab.
Weather Forecast
Cold, calm, and a mix of sun with cloud for the next few days. The Arctic ridge has pushed into the region and dropped temp's to -20*C in the alpine. The next bit of snow is forecasted to arrive late Thursday with temp's warming slightly.
Snowpack Summary
Snowpack tests from yesterday up at Hermit and Fidelity found several weak layers within the 70-80cm of new storm snow producing mod to hard results. Old wind slab layers below the storm snow did react with hard results. The Nov 13 crust, down a metre is still not reacting to the new load in most tests.
Avalanche Summary
Several size 2 to 3 natural avalanches were observed from steep alpine terrain yesterday (Mt Macdonald, Camp West, Railroad Gunners). Most natural activity has tapered off with the cold temp's and calm winds, but this past weekend, widespread storm slabs were failing 50cm thick and running to near valley-bottom.
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.