Challenging crusts are found on the solar aspects right now. "Better" skiing is on the Northern aspects. 20cm may fall over the next 48hrs so pay close attention to how this new snow bonds to the underlying crusts.
There are two layers of concern here: 1) a buried sun crust (on solar) and facets (on polar) down 20-40cm, and 2) a facet/depth hoar layer down 80-100cm that was buried mid season. These layers have become more active within the recent additional snow load, and are more prone to triggering during periods of intense solar radiation.
Thin, shallow areas or heavy triggers are what will set this layer off. Avoid terrain with those characteristics. Intense solar radiation and daytime heating may wake up this layer.
No avalanches have been reported today.
Crust season is underway. Anything with a hint of solar exposure now has a 3-5cm crust. Valley bottom is still unsupportive underneath the crust. The surface crust extends to alteast 2200m and even higher on south and southwest slopes. At about 2000m there's a bit more structure and the snowpack is supportive. This is where the trouble layers start to become more apparent. The weak facet and depth hoar is down about 60-80cm at treeline and the weak basal layers are down about 120-150cm. Winds picked up today with noticeable transport at ridge top.
Cloudy conditions will persist on Sunday with forecast models highly variable with regards to snow amounts with some models calling for 10-15cm and others 2-5cm. Winds will be light out of the NW and temperatures fairly typical with daytime highs around -8C. This will be a bit cooler than it has been over the past few days so dress a little warmer! Watch for localized snow and if amounts are higher than forecast be preparred to see dangers levels increase.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
