Fresh and reactive wind slabs may form at treeline and above. Start conservative and watch for signs of instability like cracking or whumpfing.
Wind slabs may be reactive at ridgeline and in exposed terrain features. Expect sluffing in steep terrain or isolated storm slabs in wind protected areas, like the trees.
On Wednesday, numerous dry loose avalanches up to size 1 were reported from steep east-facing slopes. A couple of slab avalanches up to size 2 were triggered using explosives on southwest facing slopes.
Fresh wind slabs could be sensitive to human triggering, especially on open slopes and terrain features near ridgeline.
If you head into the backcountry, consider submitting a MIN report.
Up to 30 cm of new snow fell last weekend. This brings on storm snow accumulations 40 to 70 cm over the past week.
Stiffer wind-affected snow may be found near ridgelines and on open slopes. The surface snow remains soft in wind protected areas, like the trees.
Below the surface, the upper snowpack is more consolidated and reports indicate it may sit on a layer of surface hoar buried 50-60 cm down and a melt freeze crust 70 cm down.
The bottom of the snowpack has a crust from early November that is just above the ground.
Snowpack depth is 100 - 180 cm at treeline.
Wednesday Night
Cloudy with isolated flurries. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing levels 1000 m.
Friday
Cloudy with isolated flurries. 15 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Saturday
Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
