Although the current crusts can allow access some novel locations, be cautious about hunting for soft snow in the shaded high terrain as human triggering remains possible. Bring your ski crampons, ice axe and crampons for secure travel on the crusts.
Weather Forecast
Temperatures should remain below freezing at Little Prairie through Fri although there may be some solar heating. Moist Pacific air will start to affect the area as it approaches Sat with trace amounts of snow possible and maybe up to 15cm through Tuesday if the arctic air approaching over the prairies traps the moist air over the divide.
Snowpack Summary
A 5 to 15cm thick crust exists on solar aspects to ridgetop. On shaded aspects a 1cm temperature crust is found at 2200m and the snow remained dry at 2500m. Concern for both thin windslabs and the Dec facets and crust layer remains TL and above on shaded aspects with technicians finding sudden shears down 40 to 80cm on the Dec layer.
Avalanche Summary
Now that temperatures have cooled down natural avalanche activity has diminished however skier triggering remains a concern in specific areas : Treeline and above on shaded slopes.
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.
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.