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Confidence
Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain
Weather Forecast
The next three days look dry. Temperatures warm on Sunday, when the freezing level is forecast to spike up to around 2400 m and stay there through Monday. Winds are light to moderate from the north.
Avalanche Summary
A cornice fall triggered a size 1 slab on Friday. Otherwise, no new avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Cornices may be large and fragile. In some locations, wind slabs may be found in alpine terrain. On high, shady slopes, low density dry snow overlies a crust. Sunny slopes are likely to follow a melt-freeze cycle over the next few days (soft and weak surface by day; with limited refreezing by night). Recently formed crusts at or near the snowpack surface are strong and supportive below about 2200 m. At higher elevations and on shady aspects, these crusts have less strength. The mid and lower snowpack are generally strong and well-consolidated. Below treeline, there is limited snow cover.
Problems
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.