Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

The weather pattern has taken a dramatic shift as the arctic ridge becomes the dominant weather feature through the weekend, bringing colder temperatures and mostly clear skies.Saturday: Sunny with alpine temperatures near -3 and freezing levels 1400 m. Ridgetop winds light from the West. Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud with some flurries. Alpine temperatures near -7 and freezing levels 1000 m. Ridgetop winds light from the northwest.Monday: A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures near -3 and freezing levels 1100 m. Possible alpine inversion. Ridgetop winds light from the northeast.

On Friday, no new avalanches were reported.On Thursday, avalanche control with explosives triggered numerous slab avalanches up to size 2. Cornice releases triggered wind slabs from the slopes below up to size 1.5. With colder temperatures expected this weekend, natural avalanche activity will likely taper off, but human triggering will be possible especially on leeward slopes and behind terrain features.

Snow surfaces vary from aspect to elevation showing crusts, wind pressed and scoured conditions. In the alpine 5-15 cm of recent snow, accompanied by strong winds from the southeast have formed reactive wind slabs up to 30 cm thick in leeward terrain. Large, fragile cornices exist on ridgelines and could trigger an avalanche on the slope below if they fail. Treeline and below treeline elevations a melt-freeze crust has formed.On average 180 cm of settled snow now sits on the mid-January crust which generally shows signs of bonding to the overlying snow; however, it has the potential to "wake-up" with a large trigger such as a cornice fall. Below this, the snowpack is thought to be generally strong and well-settled.