Caution around shallow snowpack areas at higher elevations. A buried layer of surface hoar remains the primary concern, especially where the crust over this layer is breakable.
A preserved layer of surface hoar is found down 40 to 70 cm and has shown consistent reactivity in recent snowpack tests. It may be reactive to human triggers, at higher elevations, where the weak layer is not capped by a rain crust.
No recent persistent slab avalanche activity has been reported lately but the weak layer continues to be reactive in snowpack tests. These layers are most likely to be reactive to triggering in shallow snowpack areas at higher elevations where the crust is less robust.
If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
On sheltered locations, 10-20 cm of light snow overlies a layer of surface hoar and a sun crust. Surface snow is moist from 1700 m and below. A prominent rain crust is found 40 to 70 cm deep. While this crust may be strong enough to cap another preserved layer of large surface hoar crystals in some areas, in other areas the crust is breakable or absent. It may be possible to trigger this weak layer in areas where the crust is thinner and less supportive, with higher-elevation terrain being the most suspect.
Typical snowpack depths at treeline are 70 to 110 cm, and taper rapidly below treeline.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, no accumulation, alpine wind southwest 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2° C, freezing level 1500 m.
Thursday
Cloudy with scattered flurries, trace accumulation, alpine wind southwest 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2° C, freezing level 1800 m.
Friday
Increasing cloudiness, snow 5-10 cm, alpine wind southwest 40 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -2° C, freezing level 1500 m.
Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds, no precipitation, alpine wind northwest 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -6° C, freezing level at 800 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
