The snowpack is becoming more and more stagnant as we wait for more snow. The bulletins will be intermittent while we wait the early season dry spell out. Patience is the name of the game now...
Weather Forecast
The next few days will be much warmer than last week. Valley bottom temps will rise to 0 tomorrow and stay warm through out the evening and overnight. 3000m temperatures will also rise in the next 36hours. They may even hit 0 tomorrow afternoon. Winds will be light from the NW. No snow...
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches
Snowpack Summary
Not a lot of change over the last two days, or the days to come from the looks of it. The crusts that formed in early Nov are still intact despite the cold temps. There is some question to the upper limits if this crust, but we expect it is up to atleast 2600m. Once travel improves, this will be nailed down a little better. On the crust there is 20-30 of loose, facetted snow at 2200m. Above 2200m there are isolated pockets of windslab, which could be easily triggered in the right terrain. Unsupported slopes should be treated with caution.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.