This prolonged period of stable weather has allowed the snowpack to settle and adjust. Although minimal avalanche activity can be expected, continued caution with the basal facets is certainly warranted as there are many thin areas to be found.
Weather Forecast
Cloudy with some flurries Friday, otherwise broken skies with light winds until Monday. A system is approaching Monday: expect warming and increased winds through Tuesday.
Snowpack Summary
About 20 cm of cold faceted snow is bonding poorly to a variety of surfaces: suncrust (S, SE) and previous wind effect open areas. Faceting also continues in the bottom 40 cm of the snowpack where depth hoar has now replaced old crusts. The slab of pencil snow above this provides all of the strength to our snow pack but this is extremely variable.
Avalanche Summary
Very little activity has been observed in the last 5 days with the exception of minor wind generate surface sluffing in very steep terrain.
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.