Avalanche Forecast

Good

Friday:Mostly cloudy, with a chance of flurries. Temperatures should reach -5 with westerly winds 20-40km/h.Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud, with clouds building thought the day. Flurries may develop late in the day or overnight. Winds turn more southwesterly and remain moderate with temperatures reaching -3.Sunday: Mostly cloudy with light flurries (up to 5cm), moderate westerlies and temperatures reaching -10.

Small loose snow avalanches (sluffing) up to size 1.0 are the main issue being reported, failing naturally (often associated with solar radiation) or with rider traffic. There was a natural glide slab (size 1.5) event and a small natural cornice failure also reported. 

Slow and subtle change is the name of the game under the current conditions. Surface hoar growth continues with bigger crystals observed at treeline and below (up to 15mm). In protected areas, the surface hoar continues into the alpine but crystal size is significantly smaller and distribution is patchy. Near surface faceting has penetrated the upper snowpack as deep as 30cm, keeping the surface snow soft. The patchy sun from the past few days has left behind a thin, breakable crust on south and west aspects. In some areas (predominantly the northern half of the region) this crust is more widespread to other aspects due to the inversion conditions. These crusts will likely facet out in the next few nights.Variable winds have built windslabs in many exposed locations at treeline and in the alpine. The faceting process has softened many of the older windslabs, but fresh deposits have been reactive to rider traffic.The midpack is well settled. The crust/facet combo found deep in the snowpack is still present, but has become dormant.