Spring-time brings a wide array of conditions, from bullet-proof crusts in the valley bottom, horrible travel in tight trees, and glorious powder on N-facing alpine slopes.
Expect conditions to change rapidly as the sun strikes the mountains. Get an early start and finish early!!
Fresh wind slabs can be found in immediate lee features at Treeline and Alpine elevations. South-west winds have loaded Northerly aspects, though pockets may exist on solar slopes.
A clearing trend the next few days will bring lots of sun and higher freezing levels. This will soften up the surface snow on solar aspects. Slopes blazing in the sun should be avoided, especially once their surface has become moist/wet.
On Thursday a party triggered a size 1.5 slab on a steep line on the North face of Cheops. 1 person was involved and lost equipment.
A field team was able to ski cut a sz 1.5 wind slab from an alpine lee feature on Christiana Ridge Wednesday.
The March 27th crust has added bridging strength to the snowpack but expect things to fall apart quickly when that crust breaks down in the heat.
10-20cm of dry powder exists on northerly aspects in the alpine. Solar aspects sport a crust with ~5cm new snow on top.
Below this surface snow, a 10-25cm thick crust of variable strength from last week's rain event is present. Test results have varied on this crust, from no result to moderate failures.
Below 2300m, up to 50cm of moist snow can be found under this crust.
High pressure will bring clearing and rising temps for the weekend.
Tonight Clear, nil precip. Alp high -6°C. Ridge wind NW 10-25km/h. Freezing Level (FZL) 800m
Fri Sunny with cloudy periods. Precip: nil. Alp high -3°C. Light wind. FZL 2000m.
Sat Sunny. Alp high: 0°C. Light SW ridge wind. FZL 2200m.
Sun Mix of sun/cloud. Precip: nil. Alp high 3°. Wind SW 10 km/h. FZL 2500m.
