Still some good skiing found on sheltered North aspects at higher elevations. However, watch for rapid rises in avalanche danger related to solar radiation and warm temperatures. Start early and finish early.
Weather Forecast
Wednesday should be mostly sunny with NW winds gusting to 55 km/h. Alpine temperatures should reach -3 degrees with freezing levels near 1700m. The rest of the week will see a warming in temperatures with freezing levels near 3100m by Thursday.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new observed today, but a size 3.0 slab avalanche occurred on Commonwealth Ridge sometime Saturday. This was a full-depth avalanche on a SE aspect that ran full path and destroyed mature timber.
Snowpack Summary
Between 2 and 8cm of new snow overnight depending on aspect and elevation. This overlies a melt freeze crust on all aspects at all elevations except for North aspects above 2400m. Isolated thin wind slabs are found at ridge-crest in immediate lee slopes, but generally don't seem to be reactive to ski cutting. The basal facet and depth hoar remain a concern during times of intense heating and/or solar radiation. Where cornices exist they are large and sagging.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.