Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Sunday

SATURDAY: Mainly cloudy, light southeast wind, alpine temperatures around -5.SUNDAY: Flurries starting later in the day, moderate southeast winds, alpine temperatures around -3.MONDAY: Flurries with 5-15 cm of new snow, light west winds, alpine temperatures around -6.

No new avalanches were reported on Thursday. Several small wind slab avalanches were reported earlier in the week, and lingering wind slabs may still be reactive in isolated wind-loaded pockets.

A trace of new snow covers a variable surface with a mix of soft wind slabs, hard wind slabs, sastrugi, faceted snow, and even some surface hoar. Wind slabs are the primary weakness of concern in the current snowpack. Last week's winds reverse loaded many terrain features and formed stubborn wind slabs on a surprising range of aspects. Snowpack tests on wind slabs are producing easy to moderate results, with occasional sudden planar results. The Boxing Day interface can be found up to 100 cm deep and consists of wind packed snow, faceted (sugary) snow, or surface hoar. Recent observations suggest the overlying snow is generally well bonded to this interface. Snowpack layers below this interface are also generally well bonded.