Extremely cold temperatures will make travel slow and the ice hard and brittle. Bundle up and watch your partners for frostbite.
Weather Forecast
Expecting Tuesday to grace us with possibly the coldest temperatures of the season so far (forecasted to lows of -35 overnight in the ice fields area)! We should see a warming trend as we move into the weekend and continued sunshine to help soften the bite of the temperatures.
Snowpack Summary
Surface facetting due to extremely cold temps. Hard mid-pack is providing bridging strength over the weak basal facet layer at tree line and above. Recent settlement below tree line has greatly improved travel. Reasonable ski conditions can be found in sheltered features at tree line and below.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported today.
Confidence
The weather pattern is stable
Problems
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.
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.