It is cold and the days are short. Start early and plan a turn around time that gets you back to the trail head well before dark.
Weather Forecast
Today, light precipitation, an alpine high of -17C with W'ly winds in the light to moderate range. For Thursday through Friday we may receive 10cm of snow with light winds and warming temperatures.
Snowpack Summary
40-50cm of snow is settling into a persistent slab which sits on the Dec 15 surface hoar. Expect the slab to be more reactive as you transition into steep and/or wind effected terrain. Solar aspects have a thin crust layer below the slab. Light snow overnight will have buried a thin layer of surface hoar needles, the Dec 27 layer.
Avalanche Summary
One size 1.5 ski cut surface slab off the west face of Cheops. This slide was observed yesterday but suspect it happened in the Dec 24-25 time period.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.