The natural cycle has slowed down. Carefully evaluate the near surface interfaces for localized instability before committing to your line!
Weather Forecast
Broken skies and warm temps expected over the day on Wednesday. Seems to be a steady stable weather pattern without to much variance for the week.
Snowpack Summary
Huge variation in the snowpack across the forecast region. The Icefields Area snowpack is getting small inputs overnight to add to the storm snow from the weekend and is settling out with some transport at ridgetop. There is a variable storm slab sitting over the Jan 29 rain crust on all aspects at treeline and above.
Avalanche Summary
Minor sluffing continues out of steep terrain.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.