Kootenay Boundary

Check out the Tricky Holiday Conditions blog post for more details on the current avalanche scenario.

Good

The dry ridge of high pressure will persist bringing mainly clear skies for the entire forecast period. Ridgetop temperatures should hover around -20 for each day, while ridge top winds will be mainly moderate from the northwest.

We continue to get reports of skier-triggered, and remotely triggered slab avalanches. Avalanche activity has mostly been in the size 2 range, failing on the mid-December layers. With the current reverse loading pattern, I would expect a new round of wind slab activity on southeast through southwest facing terrain.

Up to 35cm of low density snow fell over the last few days. This new snow, which overlies recently formed surface hoar, has likely been shifted by strong northerly winds into stiff and reactive wind slabs on south-facing terrain. Up to 90 cm below the surface, you'll likely find a touchy weak layer of surface hoar sitting on a thick rain crust. This buried snowpack structure was formed in mid-December and remains the primary layer of concern for the region. This widespread persistent weak layer continues to produce whumpfing and sudden snowpack tests, and will likely remain sensitive to human triggering for the foreseeable future. Although high elevation slopes may not have the rain crust, they are still reported to have touchy buried surface hoar. At the base of the snowpack, a crust/facet combo appears to have gone dormant for the time being.