Just when you think it should start to warm up, it just gets colder. Decent skiing will most likely be found just below treeline to valley bottom.
Weather Forecast
On odd thing to write in March, but expect another cold snap. Friday night/saturday morning's low could be s low as -32 on the Spray Rd!! To make it even stranger, we are expecting a bit of snow as the temperature falls. Not much, but about 5cm is expected. Calm winds throughout the week end.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing reported today.
Snowpack Summary
We continue to loose strength in our entire snowpack. All elevations and aspects have felt the effects of the cold. In alpine and treeline areas this has helped to a certain degree. Slabs have been weakened and are becoming less "triggerable". Yet, at the same time, the same faceting process is making those thick/thin transitional areas more sensitive. It's an interesting balance, one that is shifting daily. We've seen some large, full depth avalanches lately that are giving us hints towards the slow, but steady change in the alpine. Treeline and below are more straight forward. The snowpack has basically lost it's entire structure.
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 Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.