The avalanche hazard will increase overnight into Sunday as the snow continues to add up. Expect the fresh storm slab and the Nov 17 persistent slab to be sensitive to human triggering.
There are still many early season hazards, like rocks and stumps just below the snow surface. Leave plenty of time to ski out in daylight hours at the end of your day.
The Nov 17 surface hoar, facets and crust is now buried by 30-50cm of snow. Where this layer exists and hasn't avalanched, expect it to be sensitive to human triggering. Investigate smaller adjacent slopes before stepping out into bigger terrain.
New snow has built fresh storm slabs. These have the potential to step down to the Nov 17 surface hoar layer and will take several days to settle and stabilize.
A widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 2, mainly on the East end of the highway corridor, and an isolated size 3 out of MacDonald Gully 6.
Expecting avalanche activity to increase with continued snowfall into Sunday morning.
25cm of new snow with another 15-20cm overnight will continue to build storm slabs. The Nov 17 persistent slab (surface hoar 5-30mm, facets, and crust) is down 30-50cm. The surface hoar is largest at and below treeline.
The early season snowpack is thin and variable, with an average depth of 50cm at the parking lots, just over a meter at treeline, and up to 130cm in the alpine. These values are below threshold for burying hazards, covering creeks, and bridging crevasses.
A cold front will move through the region Saturday evening into Sunday morning bringing 15-20cm of new snow and strong SW winds.
Sunday, winds will shift to the West becoming light, while temperatures will begin to drop below -20 in the alpine.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
