Avalanche Forecast

Over the past few days, small (size 1) wind slab avalanches were reported in alpine terrain. A size 2 wind slab avalanche was remotely triggered by skiers on a steep south-facing slope near Golden on Wednesday.

Alpine terrain is wind-affected. 5 to 15 cm of dry snow may be found on north-facing slopes, otherwise, the upper snowpack mostly consists of various melt-freeze layers.

The facet/crust layer that caused large avalanches in March is buried 60 to 120 cm deep and is unlikely to trigger under the current conditions.

Thursday Night

Cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2200 m.

Saturday

Sunny. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +3 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Sunday

Sunny. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +6 °C. Freezing level 3000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
• Minimize your exposure time below cornices.
• Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.