Avalanche Forecast

Limited reporting from the field; however, this one is worth looking at. The location and size strike me as 'representative'. My concern is that with the facetted snowpack things could scrub to ground (deeper crown = bigger avalanche). Big shout out to J.Majorossy!

Over the work week the east side of the Purcells received 10 to 20 cm of snow. The weekend storm should bring another 15 to 30 cm by Sunday afternoon.

Below the recent snow are old cold layers including large surface hoar (10-30 mm), facets (sugary, weak) and even a sun crust on steep solar aspects.

In the alpine, snowpack depths range from 70-110 cm. At treeline, 40-80 cm. Below treeline averages 10-40 cm.

A variable and thin early-season snowpack with many early season hazards, like rocks and stumps.

Saturday Night

Overnight storm should deliver 5 - 10 cm with moderate to strong southwest winds. Temperatures around -10 C.

Sunday

Storm winding down during the day as it slides south. Another 5 to 10 cm of snow, continued moderate to strong westerly wind, steady around -5 to -10 C

Clearing with dry cold air arrives as the wind veers to the northeast . Temps around-15 C.

Continued dry and cold

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 30 cm of new snow.
• Start on smaller terrain features and gather information before committing to bigger terrain.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.