Watch for small wind slabs at ridge top and take care to manage your sluff in steeper terrain. Avalanche control will occur on Mt. Bourgeau and Mt. Whymper March 10. No activities on these peaks tomorrow.
Weather Forecast
A nice day Sunday with valley bottom lows of -12 and highs of 0C. 3000m temperatures will be slowly rising from -16 to -8C. Expect light N/NW winds which will start to increase late in the afternoon. Winds will really increase on Monday (100kmh+) at upper elevations and some snow will arrive for Tuesday although amounts are uncertain.
Snowpack Summary
A trace to 20 cm of new snow came with moderate to strong SW-W winds. This sits over weak surface facets, previous wind effect and crusts isolated to steep solar slopes. Weaker layers like the Jan.17 surface hoar/facets linger down 40-60 cm in some locations, but are currently lying dormant. A weak basal snowpack exists in thin snowpack areas.
Avalanche Summary
Some small wind slabs and loose dry avalanches have occurred over the last 24 hours in the alpine but activity is tapering. A ski group triggered a sluff in the Goats Eye feature along the Sunshine ski area road. It was a sz. 1.5 and no one was injured.
Problems
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.
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.