Low danger and generally stable snow persist, with isolated shallow spots still capable of producing skier-triggered avalanches in extreme, wind-affected terrain.
This Avalanche Problem is only a "problem" in thin snowpack areas, mainly on the east side of Hwy 93 & Hwy 1, where facets persist near the ground. Triggering is unlikely, but the problem is inherently uncertain and may still be triggered in isolated, steep terrain with a thin-to-thick snowpack.
A MIN reported a small windslab near Bow Peak today. It is unclear if this was today, or from a previous day. Otherwise, no new avalanches have been observed or reported on Tuesday.
Extensive wind effect exists in the alpine, with some surface faceting helping to break down crusts and create softer skiing. In sheltered areas at treeline and below, widespread surface hoar was buried by a few centimetres on Saturday and is now the Jan 24 layer. A deeper surface hoar layer lies 50–60 cm down, but there have been no recent avalanches. Basal crust and/or facets exist in thin snowpack areas, but overall, this year's deeper snowpack is stronger than usual.
A slight warming trend continues, but temperatures remain cool (-4 valley, -10 ridge). Cloud cover is expected Wednesday, with a couple cm's of new snow late in the day, continuing gradually to total accumulations of up to 8 cm by Friday afternoon. West winds remain moderate to strong.
