Ice climbers be aware of the potential for loose dry sluffing on routes. Also, dont forget windslabs as you transition into the Alpine from treeline areas.
Weather Forecast
Well the cold temperatures will likely continue moving into the weekend. We may see a slight temperature inversion on Friday with alpine temperatures around -17C. Winds are forecast to continue out of the NW in the moderate range with a a few more CM of snow forecast to fall overnight and an additional 5cm by Friday evening.
Avalanche Summary
A few loose dry avalanches up to size 1.5 in steep terrain on all aspects on all elevation bands. .
Snowpack Summary
Sorry to sound like a broken record but... the snowpack continues to facet with the persistently cold temperatures. Wind slabs are found in Alpine areas on all aspects, and in isolated spots at Treeline. Below 2200m a buried layer of surface hoar (down 20 to 30cm) remains a layer of note, but due to the current lack of an overlying slab this layer has not been active. Deeper in the snowpack the November and october crust layers are being monitored, but are not currently active. The facetting is weakening the upper snowpack and we are starting to see more loose dry avalanches occurring. Ice climbers within gullied terrain should be particularly aware of this concern.
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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.