Verify that conditions are safe before entering committing slopes & remain cautious when travelling on or under corniced ridges and sunny slopes.
Recent large natural and explosive-triggered cornice failures have occurred. Cornices are large this time of year and can surprise you by breaking further back than expected; give them a wide berth when traveling on ridgetops.
Remain extra cautious on sun-exposed slopes during the warmest parts of the day if the snow surface is wet.
On Friday, explosive control near Whistler triggered a size 2.5 cornice failure.
On Thursday, a naturally triggered cornice fall triggered a size 2 wet slab near Whistler.
Numerous recent natural loose wet avalanches up to size 2 were reported from all aspects at treeline and above. They all occurred later in the afternoon during peak daytime warming.
Looking forward: With cooling and more cloud in the forecast, we expect avalanche activity to decrease.
The snowpack is generally well-settled and strong, although dormant weak layers may still exist in shallow inland areas like the Duffey and Chilcotin.
A typical spring diurnal cycle is underway. High freezing levels and sun melt the surface during the day, turning it moist or wet. Nightime cooling then refreezes the surface, forming a crust.
Dry snow may persist only in the highest shady north-facing terrain. Lower elevations are melting out rapidly.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature low +1 °C. Freezing level 2500 m, dropping to 1700 m.
Saturday
Partly cloudy. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 1700 m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries to 5 cm. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.
Monday
Sunny. 10 to 25 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
