Conditions are good, with continuing small amounts of new snow totalling 10-15 of low-density fluff on the surface, with cool temperatures and no wind effect. Ice climbers can expect sluffing and spindrift and riders can expect soft snow. The deep snowpack remains weak, however, so continue to avoid steep, wind-loaded features.
Weak facets and depth hoar near the base of the snowpack have caused avalanches 60-100 cm deep recently. A stiffer slab over the facetted snow can trigger larger avalanches that step down to the ground.
Lake Louise patrol saw only small, dry loose avalanches and thin windslabs in alpine terrain and the Sunshine team did not observe any new avalanches with no avalanche control done on Tuesday.
It all adds up: a few cm here and a few cm there, and now there is 10-15 cm of low-density snow on the surface, barely touched by the wind. However, this new snow overlies a 60-80 cm snowpack that is entirely faceted, with weak, facet/crust interfaces near the ground. This situation is not expected to change in the short-term, unless the wind comes up, in which case windslabs will form rapidly.
Generally stable weather is forecast for the next few days, as a weak ridge of high pressure exits the region resulting in overcast skies, cool temperatures and light, but continuous snow in the west. Expect 5-10 cm of new snow, temperatures in the -5 to -12 range and SW winds ranging from light to moderate (20-30 km/hr). Looking ahead towards the weekend, temperatures will dip below -20.
