Good skiing can be found on sheltered alpine slopes, but watch for wind loaded pockets as you transition off of ridge crests.
Weather Forecast
A complex pattern full of uncertainty. Lows from the Gulf of Alaska and costal Californian track east, converge and provide unsettled mild weather with precip. Thurs: Flurries (5cm). Alpine temps: Low -9C, High 1C. Ridge wind light to mod SE. Freezing level: 2100m.Fri: Flurries (up to 10cm). Alpine temps: Low -11C, High -3C. Light to mod SW wind.
Snowpack Summary
Moderate winds have redistribute last weeks 10-15cm of snow into windslabs in lee features at treeline and above. These windslabs are more reactive on cooler, shaded aspects where they formed on previously faceted surfaces. Loose wet slides remain a concern below treeline in the late afternoon due to an increasingly isothermal snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
A road patrol Tuesday noted loose wet avalanches to size one below treeline, and one isolated thin slab avalanche that ran size 2 from steep terrain at 2400m on a shaded aspect near Parker Ridge. On Tuesday a field team triggered a size 1.5 windslab avalanche on moderate terrain on Mt. Kitchener at 3100m (60m wide, 60m long, 20-40cm deep crown).
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Thursday
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.
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.