Stay tuned for the daily bulletins. Light amounts of snow this week-end will only help the conditions.
Weather Forecast
Light snow is forecasted to come over the week-end. Up to 7cm in the next 24hrs and another 11cm over Sunday. Winds will initially be variable in direction, but as usual the ridgetop wind speeds will be high to extreme. Winds at 1500m will be in the light/moderate range. To top it off, the temps are going to fall overnight Friday.
Avalanche Summary
A few near missed over the past week up to sz 2. Poor visibility today prevented any current observations.
Snowpack Summary
Little change over the past few days. Widespread hard slabs in alpine terrain as a result of the strong winds. The Oct 27th crust is 20cm or so off the ground and has been the culprit in a few skier triggered and natural avalanches over the past week.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.