A layer of warm air between 2000m and 2500m may combine to loosen the snowpack and the cornices on ridges. Keep your eyes open for increasing avalanche activity in the afternoon, and give cornices a wide berth.
Weather Forecast
Valley cloud with temperatures in the -5 range, and moderate SW winds. A chance of isolated flurries today, and tonight. An above freezing layer of air may bring temperatures up to 3 degrees from 2000m to 2500m today as well. Overnight the temperature drops to -9 and light snow can be expected into Friday.
Snowpack Summary
Surface snow is facetting with cold temps. Recent tests indicate that the interface down ~30cm between the new and old settled snow will fail with moderate force but is resistant to move. The Nov. crust is down 160cm collapses with a hard force in snowpack tests but has yet to produce avalanches. Snowpack depths are below average.
Avalanche Summary
Recent activity has been confined to steep unskiable terrain. Small, loose avalanches also ran during this period from steep solar aspects, before clouds moved in reducing the solar effects. Skiers report sluffing of the top 20cm on steep slopes.
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.
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.