A complex winter snowpack persists at Treeline and above. Snowpack tests indicate a weak layer down 65 cm to be easy to skier trigger. Watch and listen for whumphing, cracking and recent avalanches and remain conservative with terrain choices.
Weather Forecast
Mainly cloudy today with isolated flurries and moderate to strong south winds at ridgetop. Freezing levels will be higher today, rising to 1900m. Another 5 - 10 cm of snow expected tonight and Tuesday then drying out over the week with a mix of sun and clouds and freezing levels around 2000m.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 40cm of recent storm snow over the past three days. The storm layer sits on a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar on sheltered N aspects. Yesterday a profile at 2000m on a north aspect showed a very weak layer down 65cm. This layer produced easy to moderate sudden shears failing on a crust.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous Na Sz 1.5 to 2.5 Natural avalanches observed yesterday on North and south aspects. `
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.