Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the speed, direction, or duration of the wind and its effect on the snowpack.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with clear periods, trace to 1 cm new snow, light to moderate southwest wind, treeline temperature -10 C.

SATURDAY: Mainly cloudy, trace to 3 cm new snow, moderate to strong southwest wind, treeline temperature -9 C.

SUNDAY: Mainly cloudy, 5 cm new snow and 15 cm in the west of the region, moderate to strong southerly wind, treeline temperature -6 C.

MONDAY: Mainly cloudy, 10 cm new snow and 20 cm in the west of the region, moderate to strong southwest wind, treeline temperature -4 C.

Several small loose dry avalanches (sluffs) in steep alpine and treeline terrain were reported over the last few days. Small wind slab avalanches were triggered by skiers on Wednesday. 

10-20 cm of recent snow buried surface hoar and old surfaces. On steep solar aspects the recent snow sits on a sun crust. In the alpine and upper treeline, the new snow buried heavily wind affected surfaces from last week's strong to extreme southwest winds with scouring, sastrugi, isolated pockets of soft snow and layers of hard wind slab. A hard thick crust is found up to 1900 m. 

A solid mid-pack sits above deeply buried decomposing crust and facet layers near the bottom of the snowpack (100-150 cm deep). Avalanche activity on these layers has been sporadic and mostly triggered by large loads such as wind slab avalanches and cornice falls. Though unreactive under the current conditions, steep rocky slopes and shallow snowpacks should still be carefully assessed and approached with caution.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
• Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.