Sea To Sky

Spring Conditions: The heat is on! You need to get out super early, plan to be out of avalanche terrain no later than lunch time, and avoid being on or under weak mushy slopes.

On Wednesday small storm and wind slabs to size 1.5 were reported running on a variety of aspects. On Tuesday, explosive control work near Whistler produced several size 2 cornice triggered avalanches.

High Pressure will clear out the clouds and warm the temperatures which could remain well above freezing at all elevations for the foreseeable future. SUNDAY: Some high cloud, freezing level rising to around 3500 m by the afternoon, no significant precipitation, light to moderate south wind. MONDAY & Tuesday: Clear and sunny, freezing level near 3500 m all day, no precipitation, light wind. Overnight temperatures may stay above freezing or the freeze could be short-lived.

Cornices remain a concern, in part because of the potential to trigger wet slab avalanches that run to valley bottoms. Monitoring the overnight freeze of the snow surface is very important. If the snow surface does not freeze overnight or if the crust is only a few cm thick, the effect of daytime heating and solar radiation will weaken the snowpack much more quickly than it would if there is a well frozen thick crust. This is because the crust must first melt before the sun can weaken the snowpack. With the warmest weather this year forecast, layers in the mid snowpack and near the ground have the potential to wake up and become active. While isolated and unlikely, avalanches would be very large. Glide cracks are widespread, active, and best avoided. Low elevation and thin snowpack areas have become isothermal, meaning the snowpack is 0 degrees Celsius throughout. An isothermal snowpack is more prone to full depth wet slab avalanches during the heat of the day, especially on steep, rocky faces.