The persistent slab problem is still on the radar, but shifting into a low-probability/ high-consequence situation. Be confident in your local snowpack before committing to any big terrain.
Summary
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain
Weather Forecast
Light snow starts on Friday night and continues through the weekend. (Estimates: 5 cm on Saturday; 1-5 cm on Sunday; 5 cm on Monday). The freezing level is around 1500 m by day, falling towards valley floor by night. Winds are generally light.
Avalanche Summary
Ongoing persistent slab, storm slab, and loose wet avalanche activity has tapered off recently. While the likelihood of triggering a large avalanche has gone down, the consequences remain high. On Wednesday, some natural cornice falls were observed on shady aspects, some of which triggered slabs up to size 2.5 on the slopes below. Isolated wind slabs were also reported.
Snowpack Summary
Recent 10-25 cm snow was shifted by variable strong winds into wind slabs on lee slopes above about 2000 m. Cornices are large and touchy in some spots. The new snow sits over various crusts which formed recently. Low elevations sport an isothermal snowpack, which may now be capped by a refrozen crust.Several persistent weak layers exist in the upper 1m of the snowpack and remain a concern. In the north of the region, the mid-March crust/facet layer is down 40-60cm and remains an isolated concern. Just below this layer is the mid-February crust/facet/surface hoar layer, which may also still be reactive in isolated areas. Both layers have the potential for wide propagations and large avalanches are still possible.
pgoddard,
Avalanche Canada
