Cooler temperatures the next couple of days will help stability. A little bit of new snow will improve ski quality.
Cornices are awake! These features are large, dense and heavy and will possibly trigger the deeper instability on the slope below. If you must travel near or below cornices, use good travel techniques and group management to reduce exposure.
Shallow snowpack areas in the alpine have increased potential for human triggered and natural avalanches stepping to deeper layers.
Start early to avoid this problem. Cooler temperatures and clouds will make this less of a concern the next couple of days.
Thursday will be cloudy, flurries, trace amount of snow, -6 C, and 10-30km/hr NE winds. Friday will be similar, 5cm of snow, -12 to -7C, and light ridge winds.
Cold nights is helping the snowpack recovery and creating a supportive melt/freeze crust on all aspects and elevations. This crust will break down over the day, except above ~2500m where the snow is likely to remained dry for the near future. Weak faceted crystals at the bottom of the snowpack could be concern in shallow alpine snowpacks.
Wednesday's field patrol in the Icefields noted one loose wet slab size 2 and another slab to ground on SW face size 2 in the Sunwapta falls area.
