Avalanches have the potential to run far in certain terrain. Stick to low angle slopes and avoid terrain traps such as gullies.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Weather models disagree on the outlook for Thursday. It will be either mostly sunny, or totally overcast with light flurries in the afternoon. Winds will be moderate from the west and ridge-top temperatures will climb to -5 by afternoon. Temperatures will be get progressively warmer through the week.
Avalanche Summary
Widespread loose dry avalanches up to size 1.5 in Alpine areas of the Eastern Ranges due to the recent fresh snow. There has also been very isolated thin wind slab activity up to size 1.5 in Alpine and Treeline terrain. Further west, there was little to no avalanche activity observed.
Snowpack Summary
An upslope storm deposited only 10 to 15cm along the Continental divide, with as much as 25cm in the Front Ranges closer to Canmore. This new snow overlies a variety of previous surfaces including sun crust, wind slab, breakable wind crust, sastrugi and facets. A couple of reports today of very poor quality skiing in the Spray. No change to the mid-pack and basal layers - they are still primarily weak and facetted and only have some residual strength in the deeper snowpack areas. Expect occasional ski penetration to ground, especially at lower elevations.