Travel conditions are pretty ugly at the moment due to a freshly buried rain crust below 2200m. This rain crust is only supportive some of the time and skiing in this stuff is a great way to damage a knee. Alpine areas have fresh wind slabs.
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud expected on Sunday with light winds from the North. Alpine temperatures should reach a high of -7 celsius. There is no precipitation expected for at least the next 4 days.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new was observed today but visibility was extremely limited.
Snowpack Summary
Between 5 and 10cm of heavy wet snow fell overnight. This covered a rain-soaked layer of snow from rain events on Thursday and Friday. Now that temperatures are falling, the rain soaked layer should freeze and "tighten" up. At higher elevations this rain fell as snow and pockets of recently formed wind slab are present. Concern remains for the weak basal combination of rain crust and facets, though this layer is likely less active now at Treeline and below. In Alpine areas, concern for triggering of the basal weakness should remain for some time to come.
Problems
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.
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.