The best riding will likely be on northerly aspects up high, but travel with caution, as a buried weak layer may still exist.
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY NIGHT: Cloudy, light east wind, alpine temperature -3 C, freezing level 1700 m.SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy with isolated snowfall, trace accumulation, light south wind, alpine temperature -2 C, freezing level 1800 m.MONDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 5 cm, light south wind, alpine temperature -3 C, freezing level 1600 m.TUESDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, light south wind, alpine temperature -4 C, freezing level 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
The wet loose avalanche cycle from last Sunday to Friday has likely ended, as cooler, seasonal temperatures returned to the mountains on Saturday. Evidence of the cycle is widespread at all elevations, with avalanches up to size 3 mostly on southeast to southwest aspects. A persistent slab avalanche was also observed during the hot weather on Thursday. It was triggered by a skier on a northeast aspect at 2300 m. It released within the faceted and hard wind-affected layer described in the snowpack summary.
Snowpack Summary
A melt-freeze crust is found on the snow surface everywhere except for northerly aspects above 2000 m, where dry snow still prevails. The crust may weaken into moist or wet snow at low elevations or on southerly aspects, depending on daytime warming and cloud cover.The remainder of the snowpack is generally consolidated and strong. The exception is on northerly aspects above 2000 m, where a weak layer of faceted grains buried 30 to 60 cm may still exist in combination with old and hard wind-affected snow.
Problems
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.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.