Spring conditions are here and fine skiing can be found at all elevations. Pay close attention to the freezing levels and plan to finish your day before the afternoon avalanche cycle starts.
Weather Forecast
With the Jet Stream to the South cool temps dominate through the weekend. With freezing levels descending to the valley bottom snowpack overnight recovery will be good on Saturday morning. Over the weekend this will remain at 1,600m. Rain at lower elevations and snow in the alpine over the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
On Northerly facing slopes above treeline up to 20 cm of loose new snow sits over a well consolidated upper snowpack. Melt freeze crusts are ubiquitous to treeline above which their distribution narrows to solar slopes up to 2600m. The mid-pack is consolidated and bridges the weak base. Winter conditions exist in the high alpine on Northerly slopes
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity will increase with thermal inputs such as rain, direct solar radiation and daytime warming. After a good nights freeze the danger will gradually increase during the day and peak from14:00 until sundown. Likely trigger spots close to rocks, off cliffy terrain and shallow snowpack areas.
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.
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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.