New snow overnight has elevated the avalanche danger. Spring conditions exist and hazards like breakable crust, cornice fall and glide crack failures should not be overlooked.
Weather Forecast
Moderate precipitation is forecast to continue today. Freezing levels will rise to around 1800 m with moderate SW winds. Light snow will continue tonight and Saturday with freezing levels dropping slightly to 1400 m. The forecast is a drying out on Sunday as a warmer air mass moves in and again rises freezing levels to around 1800 m.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 10 cm of new snow has fallen overnight at treeline and above. This covers a variety of surfaces including sun crust, small surface hoar and moist isothermal snow. The April 3rd crust is down around 50-60 cm. Below treeline snow is isothermal, some terrain still has some hardness and strength to it.
Avalanche Summary
On Monday, there was a skier accidental, size 3.0 on the east face of Mt Swanzy, depth 100cm, 150m wide, suspect April 3 crust. Skiers were not involved, and later the same day a skier accidental, size 2.0, Forever Young couloir, ran to 2/3 fan. Skier got taken down to the fan before self arresting. Both were in the extreme alpine terrain.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.