Use caution in areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin, especially near ridge crests.
Soft snow and good riding can be found in sheltered terrain features.
The early December weak layer may still be triggered in shallow, thin-to-thick areas, or with large loads like a cornice fall.
There have been no new persistent slab avalanches reported in the past 4 days, but uncertainty remains regarding the early December layer mentioned in the snowpack summary.
Moderate outflow(northeast) wind has impacted the snow surface in exposed terrain on all aspects and elevations. Ongoing cold temperatures have softened the upper snowpack in sheltered terrain.
A weak layer of facets and a crust from early December is buried 70 to 100 cm deep. This layer exists on all aspects up to around 1700 m.
At the highway elevation the snow is 120 cm deep and in the alpine exceeds 200 cm.
Check out our field team’s Latest MIN report for more info.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind switching to north in the early morning. Treeline temperature -25 °C, potential for temperature inversion with warmer temperatures in the alpine.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. 20 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C, potential for temperature inversion with warmer temperatures in the alpine.
Sunday
Sunny. 20 to 40 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -20 °C, potential for temperature inversion with warmer temperatures in the alpine.
Monday
Sunny. 10 to 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C, potential for strong temperature inversion with warm temperatures in the alpine.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
