Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the fact that persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

Wednesday night: No new snow expected. Wind will be light to moderate from the Southwest. Low of -11 at 1600m.

Thursday: Up to 5cm of new snow with a high of -8 at 1600m. Winds becoming strong from the Northwest in the alpine.

Friday: no new snow expected. Moderate winds from the Northwest shifting to the Southwest. High of -13 at 1600m.

Saturday: a storm arrives bringing up to 15cm of new snow with strong Southwest winds. High of -9 at 1600m.

On Tuesday one skier triggered size 1.5 storm slab was reported on a North aspect at 2200m. This avalanche occurred on the facets above the early December crust. The slab was 35cm thick.

Up to 20cm of low density snow overlies old wind effected surfaces.

The defining feature of the snowpack is a widespread crust that reaches as high as 2400 m and now sits 30-80 cm below the surface. In many places overlying snow is well-bonded to the crust but in others weak faceted grains have been observed growing above it. The faceting is most prominent in the upper treeline where the crust is thinner.

Average snowpack depth at treeline is 200cm.

• Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.