Continue to avoid steep, rocky slopes with shallow snow cover.
Steering clear of a persistent avalanche problem requires diligence in conservative terrain selection.
This problem is isolated to where fresh wind slabs are forming, or where old slabs overlie facets, surface hoar or a melt-freeze crust.
The early December weak layer remains a concern in areas with a shallow snowpack, particularly on steep rocky slopes.
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday.
Wind slab avalanche activity was last reported Monday January 13. Check out this MIN for more information on wind slab activity in the Jumbo Pass area. It may still be possible for humans to trigger slabs like this where they overlie a surface hoar layer.
2 to 5 cm of recent snow has likely buried various surfaces of sun-crust, surface hoar, and wind-affected snow. Old wind could still be found in lee features over a slightly deeper surface hoar layer, buried in early January.
A weak layer of facets buried in early December is on average 60 to 90 cm deep. In the shallower eastern parts of the Purcells, this layer is closer to 30 cm deep. This layer continues to cause occasional large avalanches.
The snowpack base consists of a thick crust and facets in many areas.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Saturday
Partly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.
Sunday
Mostly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
