Touchy windslabs will form on the suncrust on South and West aspects. Good powder skiing can be found on North aspects at treeline and above.
Weather Forecast
An up-slope storm is still being forecasted with the majority of snow to fall Friday night with E winds. Crust recovery is expected at all elevations. There will be a mix of rain and snow showers through Saturday. Cloudy conditions on Sunday with moderate winds shifting to the SW. Temps will jump up to the 20's by mid-week.
Snowpack Summary
A rain crust from the valley bottom to 2,350m and a sun crust into Alpine on solar aspects. Wind slabs on NE aspects from 2,000 m to the alpine. Moist and wet snow exists below the crust extending into the alpine on solar aspects. The mid-pack is solid on North aspects. Large cornices.
Avalanche Summary
No new activity observed in the Icefields today. On April 23rd, avalanche control produced size 1-2 soft slabs at 2200m sliding on a rain crust and cornice failures produced size 3's on steep un-skiable terrain (Cromwell and Boundary peak).
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Saturday
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.
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.