Avalanche Forecast

High -

FRIDAY: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of fresh snow, moderate to strong southwesterly winds, and freezing level around 1400 m.SATURDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, moderate westerly winds, and freezing levels around 1400 m.SUNDAY: Mainly sunny, light but gusty westerly winds and freezing levels rising to 1600 m.

No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday. Reports from Tuesday include numerous explosives-triggered storm slab avalanches up to Size 2.5, with one Size 1 ski cut. Further evidence of numerous recent natural storm slab avalanches up to Size 2 was also reported. Also, a skier accidentally triggered a 50cm thick Size 2 storm slab avalanche on a southwest aspect at 2200 m.Heavy loading from snow and wind is expected to result in continued natural avalanche activity with touchy storm and wind slabs remaining sensitive to light triggers.

15-25cm of fresh snow, accompanied by moderate winds, adds to the 50-100 cm from the past few days, with the heaviest amounts in the southern part of the region. This recent storm snow is forming deep touchy slabs, especially where it has been wind-loaded, which are bonding poorly to the previous snow surface that includes sun crust on steep sun-exposed slopes, faceted snow, as well as surface hoar on sheltered open slopes. Weaknesses are also lingering within the recent storm snow, with 'upside-down' conditions and several easy to moderate shears being reported. A persistent weakness buried mid January is now down 60-120 cm and consists of buried surface hoar in sheltered areas, sun crust on south aspects, and/or faceted old snow. It has generally stabilized but may be sensitive to triggering in isolated areas where surface hoar is preserved. Another surface hoar/facet weakness buried mid-December found 70-140 cm is generally considered dormant. This and deeper persistent weaknesses remain concerns isolated to shallow snowpack areas where they lie closer to the surface.