No major weather systems are headed out way this weekend. Thin areas are the places where you could awake the basal weaknesses. Most popular areas are hammerred!!!
Weather Forecast
Kinda a stable pattern for Saturday. We may see a few dribbles of snow but nothing major and we need major!!!! We need snow as we are well below average for this time of year. Temperature warm up on Saturday and then the cooler air moves in on Sunday. There is a chance that 10-15cm of snow may fall with an upslope system on Sunday but not all model agree on this occurring.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed over the past 24hrs.
Snowpack Summary
The midpack of the current snowpack is slowly strengthening. Current two main issues exist within the snowpack. First, the Jan 17th layer is now buring under 10-15cm of snow. Not enough load to be a concern yet, but in time this will be a problem layer worth remembering. Second is the deeper basal weaknesses. The facets and depth hoar that exist at the base of the snowpack are weak and sensitive to human triggerring especially from a thin snowpack area. Use careful route selection as you move through the 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.