Get in, get after it, and get out. Conditions are approaching ideal for tackling bigger objectives, as long as you're savvy about exiting avalanche terrain before the heat of the day.
Weather Forecast
Thursday night: Mainly clear. Light northeast winds.Friday: Sunny with cloudy periods. Light variable winds. Alpine high temperatures around -1 with freezing levels to 2000 metres.Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud with cloud increasing over the day. Light northwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around 0 with freezing levels to 2100 metres.Sunday: Cloudy with sunny periods and a chance of isolated flurries. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around 0 with freezing levels to 2100 metres.Overnight freezing levels will remain elevated during this period, dropping briefly each night to between 1000 to 1500 metres.
Avalanche Summary
Wednesday's reports showed similar activity to Tuesday, with more activity noted on all aspects with thicker wind-loaded slabs more prominent on north to east aspects and wet slabs and loose wet releases observed on sun-exposed south to west aspects.Reports from Tuesday showed skier traffic, ski cutting and explosives control yielding mainly small (size 1-1.5) storm slab releases, with slab depths of 10-20 cm. North to northeast aspects were the focal point and wide fracture propagations in these results were attributed to a poor bond between the new snow and the previous surface of crust.Looking forward, expect continuing warm, sunny weather to ramp up loose wet avalanche problems with each day's warming cycle.
Snowpack Summary
New sun crusts and temperature crusts are likely to exist on sun exposed aspects at all elevations as well as shaded aspects below about 1700 metres. Below this surface, 10 to 30 cm of recent snow (variable over the region and increasing with elevation) buried a previous surface of melt-freeze crust in most areas above 1500 metres earlier this week.The snowpack below about 1500 metres has been disappearing rapidly under the influence of sustained above freezing temperatures, strong sunshine, and rain. The chance of loose wet avalanches increases each day as these factors break down surface crusts and bring snow to its melting point.The remainder of the snowpack is generally consolidated and strong. Exceptions may exist on north aspects above 2000 m, where a gradually strengthening layer of faceted grains buried 50 to 70 cm deep may still be preserved below an overlying slab of old and hard wind-affected snow.
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.
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.