The wind has a lot of new snow to whip up into fresh wind slabs. I recommend caution in wind affected areas.
Confidence
Moderate - Wind speed and direction is uncertain
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: Mostly dry with some sunny breaks. Ridgetop winds southwest 40-60 km/h. Treeline temperatures rising to around -4C after a cold morning. FRIDAY: Mostly dry and clear. Winds becoming light westerly. Temperatures around -4C.SATURDAY: Flurries in the afternoon. Moderate southwesterly winds. Temperatures around -8C.
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, new storm snow produced numerous size 1.5-2.5 avalanches, including natural and skier-triggered loose dry and storm slab avalanches on north and east aspects. On Wednesday, explosive control continued to release storm slabs, but they remained relatively small (up to size 2).
Snowpack Summary
Quite a lot (up to 50 cm) of recent low density snow has fallen, which is now available to be redistributed by mostly moderate southwesterly winds. The new snow sits above a variety of surfaces including old hard wind slabs and surface hoar. The cold weather in early December left several layers of weak surface hoar and facets which are now buried 50-80 cm deep. These layers have been inactive for the past week, as it appears the lower snowpack is well-settled. A thick crust rain crust from mid-November is near the bottom of the snowpack and remains well bonded to the surrounding snow.
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.