Brittle ice continues to provide lacerations and stitches for climbers. Carefully evaluate fragile freestanding pillars, detached features and hanging hazards.
Weather Forecast
Temperatures beginning to warm, albeit slowly. Increased clouds and alpine temperatures near -20. No precip expected for Saturday and trace amounts Sunday. Shifting winds, light to near moderate speeds from the North to the West and Southwest will still keep wind chill values high for the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
Cold temps are promoting facetting in the snowpack breaking down surface tension and support, especially below 2100ms. Where HS is shallow, expect to be on the ground. Deeper snowpack areas have faceted top down to the Nov12 crust (down 45 to 90cm). This continues to provide support and, for those braving the cold, good turns in sheltered areas.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed or reported.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Monday
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.