LOTS of new snow is available for transport and winds have been moderate to strong out of the SW over the past few days! Avoid open wind affected terrain right now. Things are improving but we are still in a very touchy period.
Confidence
Fair - Wind speed or direction are uncertain on Thursday
Weather Forecast
Snowfalls are expected to diminish on Friday with only a few cms of new snow expected overnight. The Moderate to strong SW winds will continue overnight and then begin to ease on Thursday morning. Tempertures are beginning to become more seasonal with -13C forecast for 3000m.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous loose dry avalanches up to sz 1.5 were observed throughout the forecast region. Upper snowpack is sluffing easily with skier traffic. A suprising lack of slab avalanche activity was observed. Also, we recieved a 3rd hand report of a skier accidental avalanche in the area surrounding Murray Moraines. The slide was a sz2 with one person partially buried loosing some gear. Details are sketchy and we have not had the stability to investigate the area.
Snowpack Summary
20-25cm new snow overnight by Wednesday morning with moderate to strong SW winds at treeline elevations and above. Pockets of wind slabs are being encountered in the upper snowpack up to 40cm thick that are reactive to ski cutting in steeper unsupported features. Midpack is well settled with the 1106CR down 100cm on average throughout the forecast region. Hard results are being encountered underneath the crust in a layer of FC sz 203.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.