Very little wind in the last few days has allowed for great skiing however a great deal of snow is available to transport. If the winds increase slabs will build and the hazard will rise accordingly.
Weather Forecast
Friday: Ridge builds with N flow. Clearing afternoon warming, freeze level 1500m, -10 overnight. Calm to light winds. Saturday Mainly clear. Freeze level 1500m, -6 overnight. Winds increase to moderate West. Sunday Increasing cloud, flurries late in the day. Freeze level 1500m, warming with little recovery Sunday night. Winds moderate west.
Snowpack Summary
20-35cm of HST sluffing in steep terrain. Sun crust down 20-35 cm on steep E and S aspects. March 3 rain crust present up to 2000m now buried 65cm at Treeline and producing Mod to Hard resistant shears in some locations.
Avalanche Summary
Widespread loose dry avalanches were observed today as the new snow failed in steep terrain. Some of these events reached size 2 and the majority occurred in North and East facing terrain. Earlier in the week, there were a few slabs running on suncrusts as well as a few soft slabs triggered by sluffs in N and E facing terrain.
Problems
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.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.