Windy and warm conditions with up to 10cm of heavy wet snow (or rain) on Tuesday will keep the Hazard levels elevated. Stick to conservative terrain and be wary of overhead hazard. Grizzly tracks were sighted today on the Burstall Pass trail!
Weather Forecast
Tuesday will bring overcast skies with windy and warm conditions. Alpine temperatures will be warm with the freezing level near 2400m. Winds from the West will gust to 100km/h. Snowfall amounts could reach 8 to 10cm on Tuesday.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new today. A group of 2 people triggered an avalanche on Mt Lawrence Grassi yesterday just outside our forecast area. One subject was completely buried, but escaped with minor injuries when his partner quickly dug him up. This avalanche failed on the Feb 10th layer and was a size 2.0. The fracture depth ranged from 40 to 100cm and was 100m wide by 100m long.
Snowpack Summary
Snowpack is settling. Previously formed crusts up to 2200m on all aspects and higher on solar aspects remained mostly intact today due to mostly cloudy conditions and moderate to strong winds. However, brief periods of intense solar radiation did turn the snow moist in some areas, especially at lower elevations. Wind slab formation is ongoing at Treeline and above on NW through E aspects. Sheltered N aspects at higher elevations remain dry and provide good skiing.
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.