Spring skiing is here. Early starts and early finishes are crucial to playing safe! Although supportive in the morning, the upper snowpack is moist and will breakdown quickly with daytime warming.
Summary
Weather Forecast
There'll be a shift in the weather pattern today with the upper ridge being pushed out by a cool upper trough. Today will be a mix of sun and cloud with little to no precip, ridgetop wind will be SW 20kph gusting to 60. Freezing level will rise to 2200m late morning and start to drop in the afternoon. Up to 8cm of snow is forecasted for tonight.
Snowpack Summary
We experienced a good freeze in the valley bottom overnight but a temp inversion kept the alpine temps above zero overnight. The clear windy night will have created a marginal surface crust but this will break down with daytime heating & sun. Recent winds have likely redistributed remaining dry snow in the alpine leaving variable wind slabs
Avalanche Summary
We have been experiencing regular natural avalanche cycles in the afternoon with daytime warming and the strong effects of the sun. Avalanches have been in the sz 1.5 - 2.5 range and either loose wet or wet slab releases. Sporadic glide crack releases to sz 3 have been witnessed every few days which are large, destructive & tricky to forecast
Confidence