Recent avalanche activity indicates an unstable snowpack & remote-triggering remains a serious concern.
Stick to conservative terrain and practice good travel habits.
Southwesterly winds built wind slabs on leeward northerly and easterly slopes. If triggered, wind slab avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Weak layers formed in February and January persist within the upper 90 cm of the snowpack. The more the snowpack warms up and weakens over these layers, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
In the past few days, many natural and rider-triggered wind slab and persistent slab avalanches have been reported, up to size 2.5. These avalanches have mainly occurred in north-to-east facing alpine and treeline terrain.
Similar activity is expected on Saturday with continued wind, warming, and precipitation.
Read more in our Forecasters' Blog.
10 to 20 cm of new snow on Thursday, accompanied by strong southwest alpine winds built fresh wind slabs in the alpine and treeline. In many areas the new snow was wet or fell as rain, creating a moist surface or crust.
Below the new snow, 20 to 50 cm of settling storm snow from earlier in the week is sitting on a weak layer of surface hoar or facets in many areas. Additional persistent weak layers are buried between 60 to 90 cm. These consist of more surface hoar and faceted grains, and/or a hard crust. These persistent layers continue to be a source of concern and have the potential for large step-down avalanches.
Friday Night
Partially cloudy. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with up to 5 mm of precipitation. 30 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
Sunday
A mix of sun and cloud with light precipitation. 15 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level drops to 1000 m.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
