Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Regions
Glacier.
Changing slab condition over the Dec 15th surface hoar persistent weak layer is the chief concern right now. Take time to evaluate the snowpack before committing to your line.
Weather Forecast
Cloudy with sunny periods and no precipitation today. Alpine high of -2C with light winds and a freezing level of 1800m. A warming trend continues into the weekend with flurries expected on Friday into Saturday.
Snowpack Summary
The Dec 15th PWL (most prominent at TL) is the main layer of concern, in many areas a slab has yet to form over it though. We were able to observed some failures of this layer to size 0.5 in one location and "cracking" giving the snowpack a rippled effect in other sites. Steeper solar aspects will have a sun crust after yesterday's warmth.
Avalanche Summary
Two natural size 1.5 slabs in the highway corridor and Frequent Flyer made it down across the summer trail yesterday size 1.5-2. Part of the north face of Swiss Peak also came out size 3 in the last 48hrs. Skier triggered size 1 remote from 10m away yesterday in the west end of the park.
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.
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.
