Avalanche Forecast

Good

A high pressure ridge will continue to bring dry, warm conditions.Saturday: An inversion will generate an above freezing layer from around 1800 to 3200m. Expect cloud to around 1800 m as well as some strong alpine sunshine. Alpine temperatures will reach around +3C and will feel higher still in the sunshine. Ridgetop winds 20-30 km/h from the NW.Sunday and Monday: Dry, with a mix of sun and cloud. Air temperature cooling significantly (expected max of -4C on Sunday and -8C on Monday). Winds light northerly.

No avalanches reported since Tuesday 21st, when two size 2.5 avalanches released on the same slope about 50 m apart. They failed to ground and it is thought that one released naturally and the other released sympathetically in response to the first.

Snowpack depths vary, but in general there is around 200 to 250cm of snow at tree line and as much as 300 cm on lee slopes in the alpine. In the south and to the east of the region, there are still areas with a relatively thin snowpack. The recent dry, warm weather has generally consolidated the upper snowpack. Isolated thin windslabs may exist in the lee of ridge crests. Steep, sun exposed features are becoming moist during the day and refreezing at night to give hard surfaces in the early morning, softening during the day.A basal facet/crust combo (weak sugary snow above and below a crust) near the ground is still a concern in some areas, and was the culprit with some of the very large recent avalanches. Likely triggers at this interface would include cornice fall, rapid temperature changes or thin spot triggering on an unsupported alpine or treeline elevation slope.