Avalanche Forecast

On Tuesday there was a skier-triggered wind slab avalanche in our area. It was size 0.5 and partially buried the person but there were no injuries.

Two size-one wind slab avalanches were reported on Monday. These were skier controlled and naturally caused. They were on north-facing aspects and were at a depth of 5 cm failing on the recent snow.

Strong easterly winds may develop new wind slabs where they typically do not occur in a process called reverse loading.

Below the new snow is a melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects at treeline and below, and on solar aspects to the mountain top. On high north aspects is a mixture of decomposing dry snow and small surface hoar in isolated locations.

The mid-snowpack is generally strong but the lower snowpack is a different story.

A weak layer of sugary facets is still prominent at the base of the snowpack. Small surface avalanches and cornice falls are the most likely things to trigger this layer. However, there remains a concern for human triggering in rocky, shallow, or thin-to-thick snowpack areas at treeline and above.

Wednesday Night

Clear, no accumulation, winds switching from the northeast to the southwest light, freezing levels dropping down to the valley bottom in some places.

Thursday

Sunny with late-day clouds, no accumulation, winds southwest 15 km/h, freezing level up to 1800 m.

Friday

Cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, winds southwest 15 km/h gusting to 50, freezing level up to 1400 m.

Saturday

Cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation overnight ending in the morning, winds southwest 10 to 15 km/h, freezing levels at the valley bottom.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Make observations and assess conditions continually as you travel.
• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Avoid exposure to slopes that have cornices overhead.
• In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.