Avalanche Forecast

High

1 size 3 slab avalanche occurred in the last 24 hours in the Pocaterra Ridge zone.

Fresh wind slabs in the alpine were building on Wednesday and are expected to continue on Thursday. The top half of the snowpack is a 40-80cm dense slab that sits on top of 40-80cm of depth hoar and facets. This interface between the two is the January 30th interface and has produced repeatable sudden collapse test results. This is what is causing all of the bigger avalanches. Unfortunately we will be in this pattern for the foreseeable future.

More Detail: Wind slabs exist in the alpine and if triggered, could easily step down to the January 30 layer(facets). The March 3 layer is mostly a sun crust on solar aspects and can be found down about 50cm. Conservative terrain choices that avoid being attached to a bigger piece of terrain is the way to go right now. Forecasters are sticking to low angle, well supported terrain only. The profile below shows you what you will find if you take the time to dig.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with up to 6cm of snow. Winds will be moderate from the West in the morning and increase to strong in the afternoon. Temperatures in the alpine are expected to climb to -4c.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
• Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
• Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.