Concern remains for steep slopes where deeper, wind-loaded pockets have a dense slab sitting over a very weak base.
The snowpack remains very thin for this time of the year.
Early Season Conditions persist.
The base of the snowpack is very weak, if you are in steep terrain where the wind has created a dense slab on top of this weak base, be wary! The snowpack is very thin in most areas yet storms earlier in November still produced limited avalanche cycles.
No new avalanches have been observed or reported for the last several days.
Strong westerly winds have redistributed last week's 5-20 cm of storm snow.
Generally, the snowpack is thin and heavily wind-affected. There is a thin sun crust on south and west aspects. While surface hoar is growing, it has been blown away in the alpine.
The bottom of the snowpack consists of weak basal facets and a spotty melt-freeze crust from late October.
The snowpack is 30-50 cm deep at treeline with many areas still below threshold, and up to 90 cm in deeper alpine areas.
Scattered flurries on Saturday with strong SW winds will have little effect on the already wind hammered snowpack. Treeline temperatures will be around -10C.
A frontal system arrives Sunday bringing the potential for increased winds, rising temperatures, and minor snowfall (2 cm).
