Natural avalanche activity is decreasing right now but many slopes are simply waiting for a trigger. Use caution, be conservative and dont be that trigger.
Weather Forecast
Another system is expected to cross the region on Sunday night giving us another 15cm of new snow but...strong to extreme SW winds. This new snow will add additional load to the previous windslabs trhat have been developing over the past 36hrs. Temps are supposed to warm up on Monday to -10C in Alpine terrain. The storm will likely blow through by mid day on monday giving us generally grey skies for the majority of the day.
Avalanche Summary
There was lots of evidence of previous avalanche activity but many of the fracture lines were already blow in. There were a few sz 1.5s off of a SE aspect on Mt Sparrowhawk around 2600m and a large sz 3 noteable on Mt Nestor. The Nestor slide was up to 500m wide, 30-80cm deep and ran full path over 1000m to the end of its historical runout. The natural avalanche cycles seems to be coming to an end but many slope are simply waiting for a trigger. Dont be that trigger.
Snowpack Summary
Storm snow totals were around 30-40cm of snow but the strong to extreme SW winds have redistributed most available snow onto lee features and stripped many of the windward slopes down to minimal or no snow cover. The new windslabs are sitting on a mixture of low density storm snow or the previous windslabs that had developed earlier in the week. Lots of whumpfing was being experienced as forecasters approached more open terrain indicating the current snowpack is unstable. The weak basal facets are still a large concern for us knowing that any avalanche that initiates it likely to involve the entire winters snowpack. Thin weak are are plentiful but you should use great caution to avoid these areas. Steeper terrain will not be the place to be likely until spring, sorry...
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.