Keep using safe travel strategies even when the hazard is low. Avalanches remain possible in steep alpine terrain.
Old hard wind slabs over weak sugary facets on a hard crust could still be human-triggerable in isolated locations, mainly in rocky, steep alpine terrain.
On Saturday a skier accidentally triggered a large avalanche near Hudson Bay Mountain. It is suspected that this avalanche failed on the facet/crust combination described in our snowpack summary. Check this MIN post for full details.
In general, up to 10 cm of soft, faceted snow overlies hard, wind-affected snow in alpine terrain. Wind-exposed terrain may be scoured down to hard surfaces, while a sun crust exists on south-facing slopes.
In steep, exposed alpine terrain, old, hard wind slabs may sit atop weak faceted crystals and a crust, down roughly 20 to 30 cm from the surface.
The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-bonded and strong.
Wednesday Night
Clear skies. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.
Thursday
Sunny. 20 to 40 northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 60 to 80 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 50 to 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
