Avalanche Forecast

Natural and rider-triggered avalanches are likely as snow and strong winds continue into the weekend. These will build on top of the slabs formed earlier in the week, which may be triggerable in wind-exposed locations. Cautious terrain travel and avoidance of high-consequence avalanche terrain are smart choices during stormy weather.

Please consider sharing any observations you have on the Mountain Information Network.

The snowpack continues to rapidly accumulate at higher elevations, with another round of stormy weather expected. Each storm has brought significant snow and strong winds, resulting in touchy storm and wind slabs. The freezing level will fluctuate between 1000 m and 1400 m throughout the weekend, potentially causing snow to transition to rain at lower elevations.

Various melt-freeze crusts are buried in the middle and lower snowpack, which aren't concerning avalanche layers.

The snowpack is around 150 cm deep at 1500 m, 100 cm deep at 1200 m, and it rapidly decreases with lower elevations.

Friday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow and local amounts up to 30 cm. 40 to 60 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with 30 to 50 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1100 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
• Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
• Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.