Good spring skiing conditions continue for those willing to walk high enough to escape the surface crusts. Short bursts of convective snow showers can add up and make for good powder skiing on north facing slopes in April.
Weather Forecast
Sun, snow, rain, wind and good overnight freezes are forecast. Not enough of any one thing to change the danger rating.
Snowpack Summary
Melt-freeze with some good powder on dark, high aspects. Otherwise, surface crusts exist on most aspects and elevations in the morning, deteriorating by noon. Deep facets can be found on high north aspects.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed or reported today. A small windslab was triggered in a cross loaded slope under the Granddaddy Couloir on Tuesday.
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.