Avalanche Forecast

High

• The snowpack structure is well understood.

Warm temperatures promoted wet loose sluffing and pinwheeling on steep slopes up to size 1 on Thursday. No slab avalanches have been reported since January 30-31, when numerous natural, human-triggered, and explosive-triggered avalanches occurred on the mid-January buried surface hoar/facet/crust layer.

Natural and human-triggered avalanches are considered unlikely at this time.

A melt-freeze crust exists to mountain top, capping the snowpack.

Below this, 15 to 20 cm of moist snow potentially sits over a surface hoar/ crust layer, which was buried in late January. This surface hoar was largest in sheltered treeline terrain and below. Avalanches on this layer are considered unlikely due to the surface crust at this time.

The mid and lower snowpack is well settled.

Friday Night

Mostly clear skies. 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level drops from 2700 m to 1600 m.

Saturday
Cloudy. 0 to 3 cm of snow. 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level around 1500 m.

Sunday

Mix of sun and clouds. 2 to 4 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Monday

Mix of sun and clouds. 1 cm of snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level around 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
• Periods of low danger may be a good time to increase your exposure.
• Small avalanches can have serious consequences in extreme terrain. Carefully evaluate your line for slabs before you commit to it.