Variable wind slabs lurk in alpine and tree-line lee features. Pay attention to changes in terrain and loading patterns.
Weather Forecast
The Arctic ridge of high pressure will remain in place today keeping the weather cold and dry. Today expect a mix of sun and cloud, light Southwest winds and an Alpine high of -16*C. The Arctic ridge is expected to slowly start to shift over the weekend allowing slightly warmer temps through the weekend and significant snow next week.
Snowpack Summary
SW winds have created windslabs along exposed alpine ridges and cross-loaded features. These sit on a variety of old surfaces, from hard windslab to faceted soft snow in protected areas. The very cold temps and generally low snow have created a weak facetted snowpack. Field tests are producing mod-hard resistant planar results in the upper 60cm.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous loose and slab avalanches were observed earlier in the week from Mt Macdonald and Mt Tupper on steep extreme terrain. A few natural size 1-1.5 slab avalanches, likely from Monday, were observed from steep N-facing terrain on Avalanche Crest aswell.
Confidence
Wind effect is extremely variable
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.