Wind slabs are sensitive to human triggering. Some good skiing can be found in sheltered areas at Treeline, but prepared for a thrash to get there as the low elevation snowpack remains quite shallow.
Weather Forecast
Sunday will be mainly cloudy with no precipitation expected. Alpine temperatures should reach a high of -7 °C with moderate winds out of the West. No precipitation is forecast for the rest of the week.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous loose dry up to size 1.5 were observed today in very steep Alpine terrain on all aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 25cm of recent storm snow is sluffing in very steep Alpine terrain. Moderate to strong winds were forming wind slabs today in the Alpine and in isolated locations at Treeline. These recent slabs were not reactive to skier traffic today, but this appeared to be changing for the worse as we left the field. At 2200m the Nov 12 crust is buried 50 to 60cm and was not reactive in numerous stability tests.
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.
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.