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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme south west winds picked up on Friday and redistributed snow into wind slabs on north through east aspects, as far down as tree line elevations. Some windward slopes have been scoured to ground. Temperatures have also warmed up significantly from the deep freeze, causing the storm snow from late December to settle and take on more slab-like properties at lower elevations</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern in the snowpack is a weak layer buried mid-December, which consists of a crust on solar aspects and feathery surface hoar in sheltered terrain at and below tree line. This layer has proven to be reactive to human triggers. The lower snowpack is composed of mostly soft sugary faceted snow and early season crusts. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche hazard is likely one step lower in areas east of the divide due to shallower snowpacks and the mid-December layer being less prominent.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">See </span><a id='GoToAdded' href="http://www.avalanche.ca/blogs/baby-its-complicated" target="_blank"><span class="s_9255B882">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B"> for a recent forecaster blog for a summary of the tricky conditions in the snowpack and strategies on how to work around a persistent slab problem. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>