Solar radiation and increasing freezing levels will increase natural avalanche activity. Avoid slopes with overhead exposure where falling cornices could trigger large avalanches.
Weather Forecast
The ridge over the province begins to break down on Friday with increasing clouds on Saturday and perhaps some flurries on Sunday. Expect winds to be generally light and southerly. The BIG news in the increasing freezing levels on Saturday(~2000m) which may be followed by poor crust recovery Saturday night and even higher freezing levels on Sunday(~2200m).
Avalanche Summary
On Wednesday, a skier triggered a size 2.5 slab avalanche on a southeast aspect at treeline(~2200m). There were several additional natural and cornice triggered slab avalanches to size 2.5 on a variety of aspects in the alpine and at treeline. Solar radiation and increasing freezing levels will be the main driver of natural avalanche activity in the coming days.
Snowpack Summary
At ridgetop, cornices are huge and could be become increasingly touchy with forecast solar radiation. On lee features at treeline and in the alpine light amounts of new snow overlie older wind slabs while sunny skies have promoted a melt-freeze cycle on sun-exposed slopes. 60-110cm below the surface you'll find a persistent weak layer comprised of surface hoar, facets and/or a thick crust. This layer, which was buried on February 27th, seems variably reactive. In other words, it's still touchy in some places while in other places it's really tough to trigger, and there's not much of a reliable pattern telling us what exact aspects are most suspect. I'd continue to be suspicious of steep, unsupported features at treeline and in the alpine as this layer has the potential for very large avalanches. Below this interface, the snowpack is generally gaining strength.
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.
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.
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.