Additional snowfall and strong wind will increase the avalanche danger throughout the day.
Seek out slopes with soft snow and no slab characteristics for the safest riding.
Additional snowfall and wind will create new slabs. Expect them to be reactive to natural and human triggers, especially in freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
On Monday, natural wind/storm slabs (size 1.5 to 2.5) were observed on wind-loaded lee features at treeline and in the alpine. They occurred on north to easterly slopes and failed within the recent storm snow.
A notable persistent slab avalanche (size 3) was also reported from a north-east alpine slope near Clemina Creek. This very large avalanche ran in a path that does not commonly run, and is suspected to have stepped down to the November crust.
45 to 80 cm of recent snow overlies a prominent hard crust formed in mid-December that extends up to 2200 m. Continued wind has redistributed the recent snow in exposed terrain at treeline and in the alpine.
Where the crust is thick and supportive, it effectively caps a few of the mid-snowpack instabilities, making them difficult to trigger. These include a spotty surface hoar layer and a crust/facet layer from mid-November. These layers may still be a concern in the high alpine, where the crust is thin or nonexistent.
Snowpack depth is around 160 cm at treeline, tapering with elevation below 1500 m.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy. 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Wednesday
Cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow beginning by mid-day. 50 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Thursday
Partly cloudy. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Friday
Cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
