Ski conditions are generally excellent, with 15cm of new snow over the past two days. Watch for isolated pockets of wind slab in the alpine and pay attention to the sun; as slopes begin to warm, fresh or wet snow are likely to sluff.
New snow and strong winds have created isolated pockets of wind slab in the high alpine. Assess for recent loading before committing to features.
A persistent weak layer of facets is down 80–120 cm and may still be triggerable by humans in shallow areas, and by large loads like collapsing cornices or wet loose avalanches. This problem exists on all aspects, but has been most active on solar slopes.
Slopes receiving direct sunlight can quickly warm up, even with cool air temperatures. Fresh snow sitting on top of a crust is likely to sluff.
A size two slab avalanche was observed below the Athabasca Silverhorn on Wednesday morning, age is uncertain.
On Monday, our field team observed a cornice failure near Snowdome.
Fifteen centimeters of recent storm snow are sitting on preserved dry snow in the high North and a variety of melt forms on solar slopes and at lower elevations. Below 2300m, multiple melt-freeze crusts are layered in the snowpack.
The January 24th layer is buried 80–120 cm deep and remains a lingering concern in the alpine. The lower snowpack is generally well consolidated in deeper areas, while shallow areas remain weaker and more faceted.
Clouds will break on Thursday with isolated flurries while the low-pressure tracks south and cooler air moves in. At 2200m, expect -5 °C as a high while the freezing level sits at 1600m. Winds will be light and shifting to the North.
Skies will slowly clear into the weekend, at the same time temperatures and freezing levels begin to rise.
