Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

Nothing new today.

We are still trying to nail down the distribution of our snowpack's problems, today's trip took us to the Chester Lake area. While marginally better, we still found a weak and facetted snowpack. While there was no whumphing or cracking, the Nov25 persistent layer is still there, but slightly less reactive than across the road. Interestingly, the sun was strong enough to moisten the snow on steep south slopes.

As for the west side of the road, we expect little change in the last 24 hours. With the nature of our persistently poor snowpack any improvement will be measured in weeks, not days. As the surface snow stiffens (either from wind, temperature or settlement) it will bridge the weak layer below. This will give the illusion that our snowpack is improving, but in fact its actually going to be more reactive and unpredictable. The trick to managing our delicate snowpack will be monitoring the upper snowpack characteristics and using terrain to manage the uncertainty.

A cloudy day on order for tomorrow. Winds will be very light from the NE to E. The morning low will be around -15 with a day time high of -8. No significant snow is expected.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Avoid convexities, steep unsupported terrain and rocky outcroppings.
• Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
• Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
• Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.