Avoid features where the wind has deposited larger amounts of snow.
Use the terrain to access the best and safest riding.
Fresh wind slabs are forming with our last bout of new snow and Southwest winds.
These slabs likely overlay a weak, sugary lower snowpack. If triggered, small avalanches may trigger a bigger avalanche by 'stepping down' to these weak crystals.
Buried layers of surface hoar and facets were last reported active on Sunday. Suspect triggering to be its highest in areas where the snowpack is shallower.
This layer will be most evident in sheltered areas at treeline, where surface hoar may be preserved, and in wind-loaded areas at upper elevations where a cohesive slab above has formed.
As of this writing, there were no new natural avalanches reported. Suspect that may in part be due to limited visibility and a lack of observations.
Between 3 to 10 cm fell across the region over the last 24 hours. Southwest winds reaching values that are strong enough to transport snow also occurred during this time period. New snow and new wind slabs are sitting on older wind slabs that were created from strong westerly winds that occurred earlier in the week.
A buried layer of surface hoar sits 15 - 30 cm deep and remains a layer of concern, especially once a stiffer slab becomes established above it.
Generally speaking, we have a thin snowpack that has experienced a period of prolonged cold temperatures. The combination of the two has created a weakened snowpack by promoting faceting as a whole.
The overall height of snow is highly variable throughout the region with around 40 to 140 cm in the alpine.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, trace accumulation, wind south 20 km/h, freezing level to the valley bottom.
Saturday
Mainly cloudy, 4 cm accumulation, winds southeast 15 to 25 km/h, freezing level to 900 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with sunny periods, 2 cm accumulation, winds southeast 15 km/h, freezing level to 500 m.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds northeast 10 km/h, freezing level to the valley bottom.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
