Enjoy the great snow but stick to more conservative ski terrain, minimize exposure to large slopes and avoid terrain traps for the next few days. We have a significant slab over a weak base and it will take some time for the snowpack to improve.
Recent snow and wind have formed a storm slab in many open areas at treeline and in the alpine. Human triggering of this slab remains possible or even likely in some terrain, though natural avalanche activity has slowed down.
The recent snow sits over weak facet and crust layers. Numerous natural and explosive triggered avalanches up to size 3 have been observed on these weak lower layers in the past several days. Human triggering in steep terrain remains a real concern.
Continued NW alpine winds in the moderate range are expected overnight, increasing to strong on Tuesday. Temperatures should remain seasonal in the -10 range at treeline. Minimal snow, and a mix of sun and cloud for the next couple days.
Moderate winds in the alpine creating small wind slabs. Recent storm snow has formed a slab at treeline and above. Below the storm slab, the snowpack structure is generally weak, consisting of facets and depth hoar. The Nov crust is present up to 2500m and ~30 cm up from ground. Snowpack depths at treeline range from 80-160 cm.
Avalanche control on Sunday and Monday produced numerous size 2 and a couple size 3 avalanches. The largest slides were failing on the Nov crust and basal facets. A skier accidental size 2.5 occurred in West Bowl at Lake Louise Sunday. This avalanche also slid on the Nov crust layer. Natural avalanche activity has slowed, but not stopped.
