Carefully assess for wind slabs and buried weak layers before committing to high-consequence terrain.
Recent strong southerly wind likely formed wind slabs on north-facing terrain. Assess for slabs prior to committing to steep terrain.
A layer of facets that formed during cold weather in December is buried 30 to 60 cm deep. This layer produced natural avalanches last week and recent snowpack observations suggest it could still be triggered by riders, particularly on steep rocky slopes.
We didn't receive any reports of avalanche activity on Saturday. On Friday, a small wind slab was observed on a northwest aspect in the alpine in the north of the region.
About a week ago there were several reports of larger (size 2 to 3) naturally-triggered avalanches at all elevations releasing on the 30 to 60 cm deep facet layer described in the Snowpack Summary. Triggering an avalanche on this weak layer is still possible under the current conditions.
Recent strong southerly wind formed wind slabs in lee terrain features near ridges. Terrain sheltered from the wind has about 10 cm of soft snow. This snow sits above a layer of surface hoar crystals.
A weak layer of facets that formed during the arctic outbreak in December is buried 30 to 60 cm deep. We are uncertain about the layer's spatial distribution, but observations suggest it is fairly widespread.
Sunday Night
Cloudy with trace precipitation, 10 to 20 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -6 °C.
Monday
Cloudy with no precipitation, 10 to 20 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -6 °C.
TuesdayCloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 30 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -6 °C,
WednesdayMostly cloudy with intermittent snowfall, accumulation 1 to 3 cm, 20 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -6 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
