Avalanche Forecast

We could see a variety of avalanche problems resurface during spring weather. Milder weather and periods of sun or rain promote wet loose or slab avalanches. Snow near the mountain tops could form storm slabs or wind slabs in lee terrain features. Cornices are large and looming and are more prone to fail which each day of relatively mild weather. The likelihood of triggering buried weak layers also increases in the spring, as the snowpack progressively warms up.

Small storm or wind slabs may linger in the high alpine, particularly where they sit on a hard melt-freeze crust. At treeline and lower alpine elevations, a hard melt-freeze crust is likely found on the snow surface. The snow surface will moisten during daytime warming, particularly on sun-exposed slopes and at lower elevations.

A weak layer of facets and potentially a melt-freeze crust from early January is between 100 and 200 cm deep in most areas.

Weak faceted grains may exist near the base of the snowpack, particularly in shallower snowpack areas.

Cornices are very large and looming along alpine ridges.

The freezing level will rise to 1400 m during the heat of the day and drop to below valley bottom overnight until Monday. Saturday and Sunday are a mix of sun and cloud and Monday is mostly cloudy with light flurries.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep slopes when air temperatures are warm, it is raining, or solar radiation is strong.
• Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
• Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.
• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Minimize exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, large avalanches may reach the end of runout zones.