Have a great christmas! Ski quality is still good in many areas!
Weather Forecast
Calm winds and cool temperatures are forecasted for Santa's arrival tomorrow. Light snow is currently falling and will likely continue overnight. Dont expect to much new snow though as these flakes are TINY. We are guessing about 2-3cm of new will fall overnight.
Avalanche Summary
A few loose dry slides out of steep unskiable terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Not alot is changing out there now. There are isolated windslabs in alpine terrain just confined to ridgetop and crossloaded features. Colder temperatures are promoting facetting in the upper snowpack so we are starting to see some weak facetted snow in shallow areas. When more snow does fall, this may be a problem. The Dec 3rd layer is down 40-60cm but has not produced any noteable test results of late. For this time of year, its great coverage and a pretty good snowpack.
Problems
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.