Selkirk Mountains

Be mindful of areas on leeward-facing slopes around 35 degrees that may harbor stiff, wind-drifted slabs above a firm crust. You might trigger a small slide where recent drifting is deepest - directly below ridgelines or in gullies. Go around places with a smooth, rounded appearance and back of slopes if you experience cracking in the snow or barely make an impression on the snow surface. Small slides can quickly turn consequential in complex or extreme terrain where margins of error are slimmer.

A thin layer of high-level clouds moved overhead last night and kept temperatures mild from around 5,000 feet and lower. Above that, temperatures were below freezing. You may encounter a soft and/ or punchy snow surface at lower elevations, but many warm days have left a lot of sunny surfaces looking tired and worked over. You may find a very isolated area near exposed rocks or on a heavily vegetated slope where you could push a small wet sluff downhill, but this hazard quickly wanes as cooler temperatures arrive.

If in search of softer riding conditions, you will likely need to target northerly or leeward-facing slopes near and above the treeline. The caveat is stubborn wind-drifted slabs reside there, and where you may trigger a small avalanche. The good news is you can identify this hazard by paying attention to what the snow surface looks like and whether you see evidence of recent drifting like fresh cornice growth or textured surfaces along ridgelines. Use small, non-consequential test slopes along the way to gauge sensitivity before charging into steeper terrain regardless of the LOW (1of5) danger rating. Your day can turn bad real quick if you get knocked over or pushed around by a small slide in “no-fall” terrain or above a cliff.

Digging deeper, it’s now been two weeks since the last reported avalanche failing in the infamous January Drought Layer (JDL). The combination of warm, then cold, then warm, now cold again weather, and the lack of a major snow load have helped the snowpack stabilize and become well-bonded. However, the JDL persistent grains (facets and surface hoar) remain remarkably well-preserved under an almost meter thick slab. So if these grains still linger below and continue to produce sudden collapse failures in tests, then why did we decide to remove the Persistent Slab avalanche problem? Well, the 3 to 5 inch rain event on February 23 has now refrozen into a thick, stout layer acting like a hard cap over these pesky grains.

At lower elevations, the rain reached the JDL and helped change the complexity there. Now those grains have mostly refrozen in place and will likely need another big warm-up to circle back into the realm of concern. At mid and upper elevations the JDL mostly avoided the wetting front, but the extremely stout slab above is helping deflect surface influence from a rider or machine. The isolated exception is on shallow, rocky slopes or in wind-scoured areas where these persistent grains are closer to the surface. Sticking to more planar slopes without cliffs, rock bands, or broad and steep convexities will help you avoid the random, shallow trigger spots and this low-likelihood scenario.

Today’s hazard management is heavily dependent on slope orientation and terrain features within. Be willing to adjust your travels if surface conditions dramatically change or you experience an unexpected sign of unstable snow. If you do, ask yourself what changed and consider digging down to see what’s below you. As snowfall stacks up over the next 24 hours, avalanche conditions are likely to increase - especially if the storm over performs.

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