The snowpack is consolidating and tightening with cool temperatures at night and warmer days. The snow that came in midweek has bonded well onto the crust from the warmer days earlier in the week. Wind slabs and pillows exist on the upper NE aspects where new snow was transported and slabbed up with ridgetop winds.
New snow since Monday has produced enough snow with wind transport onto the NE aspects to cause some concern. Watch for areas in the open where the wind has slabbed isolated areas where one could easily trigger wind slabs. Watch for these areas and observe any cracking as you get up into these problem areas. The protected tree areas will be more soft and stable.
With some new snow from this week and some warmer temperatures today associated with clear skies, expect to see some wet slides on the South aspects. I did not observe much fresh snow on the South aspects but if you get into some areas where it is deeper on those aspects it could be enought to be of concern. It is also worth mentioning that rocky areas gather much more heat where one can punch through into some hollow areas. At this point the avalanche could be the least of your worries as the terrain hazards may overcome.
Yesterday in the Selkirks we found mostly stable conditions with some wind slabs on the steeper exposed NE aspects near ridgeline. The upper elevations on Northerly aspects consisted of up to 16 inches of soft snow that sits on an 1 inch thick ice crust. As you drop in elevation down to 5000 feet, the surface snow decreases down to about 4 inches and sits atop a more firm 2 inch crust. On Southerly aspects the snow was more thin and a touch above dust on crust with a series of crusts sandwhiched in the upper pack. Todays warmer temperatures in the mid 30s with clear skies will allow more solar radiation on the Southerly aspects which will warm things up. Watch for more intense heating and rotting on steep South aspects during the heat of the day.
