The snow pack is extremely variable right now. Monitor the depth and quality of the snow pack as the terrain steepens. Choose terrain wisely and keep consequences at the front of your mind. Plenty of "early" season hazards out there still.
Weather Forecast
A predictable pattern this week of moderate temperatures (-4 to -12), steady alpine winds out of the NW (up to 80 km/h at 3000m) and flurries that are expected to bring 4cm's in the next 24hrs. There is a bit more snow forecasted for later in the week and a cooling trend to accompany it.
Avalanche Summary
Lots of spindrift coming off the steep alpine faces with the occasional loose dry pouring out of gullies.
Snowpack Summary
BTL snowpack still thin and weak. TL is a bit better with an average HS 65 and generally supportive. The recent storm snow has been blown around to form soft slabs in open areas. These are mostly unreactive, but that may change as the wind continues and terrain gets steeper. The alpine snowpack is the story of the day. Highly variable in both depth and quality. Hardslab on depth hoar, facets to ground and a skim of snow over rocks. The alpine has it all, and all within a ten meter area.
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.
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.