Winds and recent snow at higher elevations will have produced wind slabs while rain and warmer temperatures at lower elevations may produce wet loose avalanches.
Find the best and safest riding in between these two zones.
New snow combine with southerly winds and warm temperatures will likely keep the wind slab problem reactive to rider traffic.
Slabs may slide easily on an underlying crust. Winds have redistributed new snow into deep pockets in lees, watch for an increase in slab properties and reactivity.
A rain saturates the upper snowpack at lower elevations, loose wet avalanches will become increasingly likely.
On Wednesday, skiers controlled triggered two wet loose avalanches. There was also a report of an accidentally triggered storm slab avalanche with no involvement.
A large storm slab avalanche was reported on the 5th in the Tetrahedron. We anticipate more of these types of avalanches are likely to occur due to this last storm.
There is potential for deep storm slabs and wind slabs to slide on a buried crust, producing large and destructive avalanches.
Moderate southerly winds will have redistributed the up to 70 cm that has fallen this week. Southerly winds have redistributed this snow into wind slabs at higher elevations.
A hard crust can now be found in sheltered, approximately 60 to 80 cm deep. The rest of the mid and lower snowpack seems strong and consolidated.
Snowpack depths are reaching 230 cm at treeline.
Wednesday Night
Clouding over early in the evening, 5 cm accumulation with more to the northwest, wind south southwest 25 to 35 km/h increasing by morning, treeline temperatures -4 C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy, up to 5 cm accumulation in the morning and more snow starting in the evening at higher elevations, wind southerly 45 km/h gusting to 75, treeline temperatures at 1 C and warming at the end of the day.
Friday
Cloudy, up to 30 cm accumulation at a higher elevation by the morning with rain below 1300 m and another 15 to 25 cm during the day and into the evening, wind southerly 45 km/h, treeline temperatures -3 C.
Saturday
Cloudy, 2 cm accumulation, wind southwest 25 km/h, treeline temperatures cooling to - 5 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
