It is still a touchy snowpack. Human triggering is primed at Treeline and above.
Weather Forecast
Light flurries are possible on Monday, but expect some sun as well. Temperatures in the alpine will reach a high of -12 Celsius with ridge-top winds in the moderate to strong range from the SW. More snow is expected in the region on Wednesday.
Avalanche Summary
Ski cutting on steep North aspects just below treeline produced very small avalanches, but the snowpack in these features generally lacked the surface density to produce slabs. No new naturally triggered avalanches were observed today but visibility was fairly limited.
Snowpack Summary
Recent storm snow has settled to 25 to 30cm at Treeline. Wind slabs forming in the Alpine and soft slabs in open areas at Treeline and below. Test profile at 2300m on a North aspect today produced easy shears at the storm snow interface, moderate shears down 40cm at the Dec 30th facet interface, and moderate/hard shears on the basal facets down 100cm.
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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.