Lawinenlagebericht

Sea To Sky

Mar 4 – 5, 2023Avalanche Canada
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Archiviert · abgelaufen 4 years ago

Lawinengefahr

Mon
Tue
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Kernpunkte

Expect to find reactive storm slabs and use caution in wind-loaded terrain.

Seek out low-angled terrain away from the wind until the snow has time to settle.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Unlikely
    Größe
    1.5–3

    Two weak layers consisting of a crust with small facets above it are buried between 60 and 90 cm deep. If triggered, these layers could produce large destructive avalanches. They would need a heavy load to trigger them, such as a cornice fall, or by first triggering a smaller avalanche that could step down to this interface. This problem seems to be more of an issue west of the Sea to Sky highway corridor.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    Expect reactive storm slabs and wind slabs in exposed areas. A poor bond may exist to the underlying old snow surface and reactivity may persist for longer than is typical.

    As the wind continues to do its work, watch out for building wind slabs.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several storm slab and wind slab avalanches, up to size two, were reported on Thursday. These were triggered naturally, accidentally, and with explosives. One was even triggered remotely.

Expect to find more of the same this weekend if you venture into the backcountry.

For a deeper dive into conditions, check out this awesome South Coast Conditions report posted by Zenith Guides.

Snowpack Summary

By Saturday morning 50 to 80 cm of snow will have accumulated since last weekend. Southerly winds have accompanied this snow so expect to find thick loaded features in exposed terrain and in the lee of features. In some areas, this new snow has bonded poorly to the underlying surface consisting of stiff wind slabs and facets formed by last week's wind and cold temperatures.

Deeper in the snowpack 60 to 180 cm down exists two crusts with facets sitting above them. They can be found in alpine and treeline elevation bands. If triggered these layers could produce massive avalanches.

The remainder of the mid and lower snowpack is well-settled, strong, and consolidated.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with some clear periods, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, winds southeast 20 to 25 km/h, treeline temperatures around -9 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with sunny periods, 2 to 5 cm accumulation, winds northeast 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C, and freezing level reaching 1000 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with some sunny breaks, 5 cm accumulation, winds east 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -6 °C.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds southeast 15 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Don't be too cavalier with decision making, storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
  • Carefully monitor the bond between the new snow and old surface.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.

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