A weak layer in the snowpack remains a concern for human-triggering. Don't let your guard down.
Remain vigilance during travel and look for signs of instability like whumpfing and cracking.
A weak layer of surface hoar/crust/facets exists in the top 30 cm of the snowpack. It will be most sensitive to triggering in northerly upper elevation lees where the overlying snow is deepest and not capped by a more recent crust.
A remote triggered small avalanche (size 1) was reported on Tuesday at treeline on a north facing slope.
The South Rockies Field team reported widespread whumpfing as they travelled on north facing slopes in the alpine on Tuesday.
Between 10 to 15 cm of wind affected new snow overlies a widespread variable crust on all but high alpine north facing terrain.
A weak layer of surface hoar on a melt-freeze crust, with a thick layer of facets below, formed in late January is buried 20 to 50 cm deep.
The mid and lower snowpack remain well settled, with no significant concerns at this time.
Wednesday Night
Clear skies. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Thursday
Mostly sunny. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Friday
Mostly sunny. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 15 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
