Boundary

The recent storm snow combined with strong winds has created dangerous avalanche conditions, especially at higher elevations.

Stick to low-consequence, conservative terrain.

• Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
• Keep your guard up as storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.

No new avalanches reported, but we suspect a natural avalanche cycle has occurred. Reactive storm and wind slabs exist on Thursday.

The recent storm brought up to 60 cm of new snow, building fresh storm slabs at upper elevations. Expect to find deeper deposits of wind-loaded snow on leeward slopes. The new snow sits 60 to 90 cm above a layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals.

A 2 to 10 cm thick rain crust can be found down 50 to 100 cm at 1400 m and below.

At treeline we expect a snow depth of 160 to 270 cm or more. Snowpack depth tapers significantly at lower elevations.

Many early season hazards are just below the surface below treeline.

Wednesday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -21 °C.

Thursday
Sunny. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -23 °C.

Friday
Sunny. 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -21 °C.

Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 3 cm of snow. 10 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -21 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.