Moderate to Strong winds from the west throughout the morning and early
afternoon down to valley bottom, howling up high, then calming down a bit
with snow at about 1 cm/hr (rimed) starting at around 1 pm. Temps were
hovering just below the freezing level throughout the day--perfect
conditions for slab formation.
The snowpack in this area is quite wind affected, but BELOW TREELINE the
storm snow from the past couple of weeks seems to be well settled and
bonding well to the facet/crust midpack. That said, the intense wind and new
snow is increasing the avalanche danger in all open areas even well below
treeline.
We observed a couple of recent sz 1.5-2.0 slab avalanches out of steep
unskiable terrain, NE aspect, at around 2300 metres. We were very cautious
in our use of terrain in order to avoid steep exposed features. We gave
runout zones from the high alpine a wide berth out of concern that large
avalanches might run full path on the rotten facets/depth hoar near the
ground.
Ski penetration was about 20-30 cm and travel was easy to moderate. Ski
quality was a little variable from the wind but mainly excellent in
sheltered areas.
I would rate the danger as: Alpine, High (limited observations); Treeline,
Considerable; Below Treeline, Moderate.
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
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