3500 meter freezing levels on Tuesday means avalanche control on EEOR and a good day to hit the ski hill and give back country avalanche terrain a miss!
Lawinenprobleme
Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
Wahrscheinlichkeit
Possible
Größe
1–3
Wind slabs are prevalent in any open features at treeline and above and will require avoidance during the warm air event on Tuesday.
Cornices
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
Wahrscheinlichkeit
Likely - Very Likely
Größe
1–5
With the forecast freezing levels, it is highly likely we will see cornice failures, particularly at alpine ridge and treeline ridge features on northeast aspects.
Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
Wahrscheinlichkeit
Possible
Größe
2–5
The January 6th facets are widespread at all elevations and aspects and will very likely become highly reactive to the extreme day time heating on Tuesday and the rest of the week.
Confidence
High
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud. No new precipitation for Tuesday. Alpine temperature 3.0 C. Winds light to moderate 30km/h West. Freezing levels up to 3500 meters.
Avalanche Summary
Very little to no avalanche activity observed today along the Smith Dorrien and Spray Lakes highway.
Snowpack Summary
Windslabs and storm slab interfaces are bonding and tightening up. The critical weakness in the snowpack at the moment is the January 6th facet layer. In some sheltered locations at treeline and below the layer can be found 30-40 cm below the surface. At higher elevations where the Jan 6th is present, compression tests and other mechanical tests are widely variable. The long and the short of it is that the layer is widespread and giving mixed results, therefore my confidence in the snowpack is low right now. Therefore its a great time to keep terrain choices fairly straightforward and keeping exposure time to big features like head walls, big snow faces and cornices to a minimum. The warmer air is here and will be around all week peaking on Tuesday.