Warm, windy, crusts and avalanches in Crowsnest

<p>Today we went to the Crowsnest where we found the sun and warm temperatures doing its work on steep solar-facing slopes. Several size 1 - 1.5 wet loose avalanches were observed throughout the day. Temperatures in the alpine around 1:00 were -0.8 degrees and the moderate to strong west winds were helping to keep surface snow dry on all but steep south-facing slopes at all elevations and all aspects below 1600m. The alpine was stripped down to hard surfaces and lower down at treeline we found wind-affected snow over some softer snow that made skiing a challenge but not an avalanche problem. Below the most recent snow that fell late last week, there are bomber surfaces of either melt-freeze crust on solar and hard wind-pressed snow on north-facing. Cornices are overhanging in this area, we stayed well away from slopes below.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Open trees, Steep slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Rapid temperature rise to near zero degrees or wet surface snow.

Snow Conditions

Heavy, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Sunny, Warm, Windy.