Allow the recent snow time to settle and bond before exposing yourself to larger, high consequence terrain features.
Continue to re-evaluate conditions as you gain elevation and transition into open terrain.
Be extra cautious on South through West aspects, as there is a sun-crust down 40-70cm that has been reactive to skier/rider traffic.
Recent snow with variable wind has created a soft slab that will be most triggerable near ridgelines and on convex slopes.
Over the past week there have been several human triggered avalanches up to size 2, all on sun affected aspects failing on the sun crust buried in early January.
On Saturday a few small natural avalanches were observed from the steep terrain on Mt. Macdonald.
30cms of recent storm snow overlies variable wind slabs/wind effect in open terrain, and settling facetted snow in sheltered areas below tree-line.
A sun crust, down 50cm (most prominent at tree-line) has been the failure plane for recent human triggered avalanches.
Below 2100m there is decomposing crust down 75cm (from Dec 5th/6th).
The Dec 1 surface hoar layer is down 110cm and is decomposing.
Flurries and mild temperatures set the trend for this week with a fairly active flow but no significant snowfall or wind.
Mon: Flurries - 7cm, high -2°C, light S winds, freezing level (FZL) 1900m.
Tues: Flurries - 5cm, high -4°C, low -6°C, moderate SW winds, FZL 1500m.
Wed: Isolated flurries - trace of new snow, high -6°C, low -9°C, light SW winds, FZL 1200m.
