A super-early start is needed to beat the record heat. Evaluate the strength of the crust that you are traveling on. It will break down fast with the sun and warmth.
Weather Forecast
A record heat wave in Rogers Pass has brought clear skies, intense sun, and high freezing levels (3700m). Freezing levels remain high for the next few days, with very little recovery overnight. Winds will remain light at all elevations for the next 3 days. No precipitation in the forecast, except for isolated showers on Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
The melt-freeze crust at tree-line and alpine elevations is thinner and weaker with the warm overnight temp's. This will break down rapidly with the record heat wave. Below tree-line, the snowpack is isothermal and loses all strength with the daytime warming. Northerly aspects above 2300m still have dry snow.
Avalanche Summary
One wet size 2 slab was observed yesterday off of Tupper. Otherwise there has been little avalanche activity lately due to good overnight freezes of the snowpack. This will change with the forecast high freezing levels. Expect glide-cracks to become more active, which are opening up on many slopes and can fail unpredictably.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Wet Slabs
Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.