Heat during the day, poor over night re-freezes & an abnormally weak snowpack make for stressful times. Why be stressed all day? Why not just avoid avalanche terrain? Seems simple. Right?
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Tomorrow's high will +4, but it will be there by 10am and last until late evening. The alpine winds will be around 25km/hr from the north. Skies will be cloudy in the AM, and clear a bit for the PM. No snow is expected.
Avalanche Summary
There was a widespread natural cycle (up to sz2.5) today. Solar aspects had loose wet avalanches at all elevations. The alpine & treeline had windslabs and deeper slabs fail on all aspects.
Snowpack Summary
As we quickly enter spring, the alpine snowpack is changing...FAST! The sudden spike in temperatures and solar exposure are making crusts more of a widespread layer. Expect them on any slope that sees the sun. On the shaded aspects, we have those lingering windslabs to worry about. All evidence points to these windslabs being very sensitive to temperature changes. The lack of support within the snowpack is preventing any sort of anchoring. Treeline has a similar issue, only the windslabs are thinner and not as widespread. The treeline slabs may be even touchier because of their thin nature and shorter recover (re-freeze) time at night.To share an opinion, this year's snowpack has a character that we haven't seen before. We have a long history with facets and depth hoar, but this year's crop is off the charts. As such, we feel it's necessary to acknowledge the uncertainty by avoiding large terrain right now. The snowpack has no trustworthy qualities right now.