Recent snow may not bond well to previous surfaces. Expect to find more reactive deposits around ridges and steep rolls.
Ongoing flurries and increasing wind will continue to build slabs within the recent storm snow. Additional loading may trigger slabs on the Christmas crust, especially on wind-loaded slopes at treeline and above.
On Monday, explosives triggered storm slab avalanches to size 2. Additionally, two natural cornice failures triggered storm slab avalanches to size 2.5 on the slope below.
On Saturday and Sunday, storm slab avalanches up to size 2 failed naturally and were triggered by riders and explosives; most had crowns 20 to 40 cm thick, the thickest crown reported was 80 cm.
20 to 30 cm fresh snow burried a variety of surfaces, including surface hoar in wind-sheltered terrain and a sun crust on south-facing slopes. Below treeline, moist snow is transitioning to crust.
Another 20 to 40 cm of snow covers a thin melt-freeze crust that formed Dec 24 at elevations around 2000 m and below.
The mid and lower snowpack is characterized by multiple crusts, with moist snow persisting near the base in some areas.
Snow depths at treeline generally range from approximately 100 to 220 cm.
Monday night
Mostly cloudy. 5 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 300 m.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 20 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 20 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C. Freezing level 400 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
