Best to get an early start before temperatures rise and the sun starts to deteriorate the upper snowpack. Avoid steep south and west facing terrain this afternoon.
Weather Forecast
Finally a spring day! Weather should remain mostly clear today, FL will reach 1800m, but the solar effect will be felt much higher on solar aspects. Winds will remain light from the North and no precipitation. Friday afternoon we should see a change with 18mm of precipitation expected by late Saturday afternoon with strong westerlies.
Snowpack Summary
Warm temps yesterday and a clear night will leave us with a mod refreeze this am. Expect typical spring conditions (melt freeze) on all aspects and elevations except North and East in the Alpine and upper treeline, where there are still winter storm slabs lurking in steep exposed areas. April 7th Cr is now down 50-70cm and still a concern.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday we observed 2 avalanches in the HWY corridor. 1 loose moist in Gunners Slide path and 1 slab avalanche in Pioneer, both size 2. Also a report of a size 2 storm slab skier controlled in Cheops North # 4. Several glide cracks are opening up and are on the verge of failing, it's best to give these hazards a wide berth.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
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.
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.