West Slopes Central

Normal caution is advised, as the avalanche danger is on Low. If you make it to upper elevations and find more than a couple inches of fresh snow, don't fully shut your avalanche blinders off, and consider the unlikely chance of a small avalanche. Travel is predominantly over firm surfaces, and bare ground is exposed even into the middle elevations. 

There's a tiny chance that you could trigger a small wind slab avalanche at upper elevations in areas with thicker drifts. Also consider small, yet long-running dry loose avalanches over the crust in non-wind-affected steep terrain. Finally, if the sun pops out, there could be rollerball activity and small wet loose avalanches running on the underlying crust. Any avalanche activity is unlikely and would probably be just a few inches thick.

A stout crust formed everywhere after last week's atmospheric river that resulted in 5" of rain and above-freezing temperatures for a week. On Tuesday, a few inches of snow fell, starting at about 3000ft and adding slight padding to the crust. From last Friday, up to 6 inches of snow sits at upper elevations over the crust, which has been moderately wind-affected. Weak, faceted snow has been found in the layer of snow from Friday sitting over the crust in neighboring zones.

Depending on aspect, snow is becoming sparse at lower elevations. Creek hole encounters are unsurprising, even up to 5000ft or so. Skiers and riders who made it to elevations around 5000ft in the last few days in neighboring zones found surprisingly pleasant conditions with the thin coating of dry snow over the crust. The stout crust is textured and slightly grippy. It doesn't quite qualify as slide-for-life in most areas.  For now, until another huge weather event comes our way (i.e., another massive warming), avalanche activity is limited to above the crust in the West Central zone.