The snow is heavily wind-affected. Triggering a wind slab is more likely on southerly slopes where a poor bond to the buried crust exists. Stick to sheltered trees to find the best and safest riding.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
A fairly benign weather pattern through the forecast period.Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with some sunny periods and a chance of flurries. An alpine high temperature of -8 with generally light westerly winds and some strong gusts.Thursday: Mostly sunny with an alpine high temperature of -5. Ridgetop winds light to moderate from the northeast.Friday: Cloudy with new snow 5-15 cm. Alpine temperatures near -3 and ridgetop winds moderate with strong gusts from the southwest.
Avalanche Summary
Dry loose avalanches up to size 1 were reactive to skier traffic on Monday.
Snowpack Summary
In exposed terrain, strong north winds have scoured north facing slopes and loaded south facing slopes. In sheltered terrain, cold weather is preserving 30-50 cm of low density snow. A hard rain crust that extends into alpine terrain is buried about 40 cm beneath the recent storm snow. Reports suggest the snow has a poor bond to the crust with test results showing sudden planar characteristics. This means there's a potential for slab avalanches on any steep or convex terrain feature. Monitor the bond of the snow to this crust closely. There are no significant layers of concern below the crust.
Problems
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.
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.