Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

Several loose dry avalanches to size 1 were observed. Natural activity seem to have slowed down a bit.

The field team encountered around 45cm of settled snow from the recent storm overlying sun crust or the Jan 30th interface with the persistent slab. The field team also reported extensive whomphing and cracking where they travelled and were very conservative in their route selection and exposure to avalanche terrain. The issue right now is that we have the persistent slab sitting on weak facets and could be easily triggered. Then we have the recent wind slab that is resting on the persistent slab for even more additional load. In a nutshell, it would not take much to trigger the wind slab and then in turn trigger the persistent slab for a fairly large avalanche. It will take some time for this to heal.

Traveling off of established skin tracks at lower elevations is very challenging due to the weak nature of the snowpack.

Wednesday:

A mix of sun, cloud, and isolated flurries. Day time high of -3c with moderate South winds.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Choose simple, low-angle terrain without steep convex rolls.
• Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
• Cautiously approach steep slopes that are open or sparsely treed.
• Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.