Danger levels will increase with prolonged solar input through the day. Pay attention and avoid exposure to large cornices overhead.
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud today with no precipitation forecast. Freezing level of 1600m and an alpine high of -5C. More unstable weather is forecast to invade for the rest of the work week with rising freezing levels and upwards of 20cm of snow by Friday evening.
Snowpack Summary
Upwards of 30cm of storm snow in the alpine over the weekend. SW winds in the moderate range have moved the storm snow onto alpine lee features forming soft slabs. Cornice failures pack a big enough punch to trigger deeper weak layers in the upper snowpack. Test pits producing easy to hard resistant planar results in the top 60cm of snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
One new size 2.5 slide observed off Mt MacDonald's north face yesterday. Also a report of a remote trigger of cornice off the Jupiter traverse that triggered a size 2 down to rock on the east face of Castor. The slide ran down to the glacier bench below. Several skier accidental slides and skier cut slides to size 2 from Sunday observed up Balu.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
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.
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.