T'is the season to travel early!
Danger rises with daytime warming, especially when direct sun is striking the slopes and softening the crust.
Cold, wintry snow can be found in Alpine polar aspects, along with wind slabs and large cornices.
New snow, moderate SW winds, and mild temps are the perfect combination for forming fresh wind slabs in the alpine. Slabs will be more reactive where they sit on a crust (solar aspects).
House-sized cornices are perched along ridge crests throughout the area. With warming temps, these phat beasts lose strength and can fail naturally or with human loads. Give them a wide berth; they can pull back across the ridge when they drop.
The likelihood of wet, loose avalanches increases with daytime warming, especially on slopes directly in the sun. The heavy, wet mass of avalanches has the potential to trigger deep persistent wet slabs.
Convective flurries with daytime warming raising freezing levels, then night-time cooling.
Tonight: Cloud, isolated flurries, trace-5cm, Alp low -8*C. FZL 900m, Light/mod W winds.
Fri: Cloud, flurries, trace-5cm, Alp high -5*C, FZL 1600m, light/mod SW winds
Sat: Cloud, flurries, trace-5cm, Alp high -5*C, FZL 1500m, light/mod SW winds
20-25cm of new snow fell at Treeline in the last 24hrs, burying a variety of surfaces including wind slabs, solar crusts, and a melt/freeze crust to 2200m. The cool nights will form a surface crust below Treeline, softening with daytime warming. N'ly slopes in the Alpine hold cold, wintery snow. Late season cornices are LARGE!
No new avalanches observed on Wed/Thurs with the cooler temps. The widespread natural avalanche cycle from Mon/Tues was driven primarily by strong solar input on SE through to W aspects, especially at lower elevations. Wet slabs, deep persistent slabs, glides, and loose wets were gouging to ground, breaking trees, and running full path.
