New slabs are forming and they may sit on weak layers.
Snow is accumulating over large and weak surface hoar in sheltered terrain and old hard surfaces elsewhere. As the snow consolidates and forms new slabs, the likelihood of triggering them will increase. Resulting slabs could propagate far.
Riders triggered a few small (size 1) wind slabs on Sunday, generally 10 to 40 cm deep on north to east aspects. Riders also noted loose dry sluffing running fast and far within the new snow.
Looking forward, the primary concern is new snow that overlies surface hoar and/or hard surfaces that formed last week. As the snow accumulates and forms slabs, they will likely become touchy to human traffic. There's uncertainty on when exactly this will happen so travelling conservatively and making observations as you travel will be key.
Around 10 to 30 cm of snow has accumulated since Sunday. This snow overlies large (10 to 20 mm), weak surface hoar crystals in shaded wind-sheltered terrain, wind affected snow in wind-exposed terrain, and a hard melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes. The wind was predominantly from the north to east on the weekend but it is switching to the southwest, meaning wind slabs may be found on all aspects.
Two more layers of surface hoar may be found about 40 cm and 80 cm deep. Weak faceted grains around a hard melt-freeze crust is found about 150 to 200 cm deep, though this layer is currently dormant.
The remainder of the snowpack is generally strong.
Monday Night
Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 20 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperature -10 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 30 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -9 °C.
WednesdayCloudy with snowfall then clearing, accumulation 5 to 15 cm, 30 to 50 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperature -7 °C, freezing level 600 m.
ThursdayCloudy with snowfall, accumulation 5 to 10 cm, 30 to 40 km/h south wind, treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 1000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
