The wind has redistributed the significant amounts of snow that have fallen over the past few days. Exercise caution when approaching leeward slopes and cross loaded slopes.
The safest conditions will be found in areas that are well sheltered from the wind.
As long as there is snow available for wind transport, wind slabs will continue to form on leeward slopes, beneath ridges and convexities, and in areas with cross-loading. Remember that wind slabs are generally more reactive when they are freshly formed.
No new avalanches reported or observed.
If you head into the backcountry, thanks for sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
In the last few days, more than 30 cm of new snow had been added to the 15 to 30 cm of low-density snow already present in the mountains.
This snow lies on a crust formed on 20 December, on which a layer of facetted grains is developing. This fragile interface will be closely monitored over the coming weeks.
Because of the winds, snow distribution is very uneven in alpine terrain and near the tree line: some slopes are almost bare, while others have significant accumulations of wind-blown snow.
The average snow depth at mid-mountain varies between 70 and 110 cm.
WEATHER FOR THE CHIC-CHOCS RIDGES AND PEAKS
A high-pressure system is slowly bringing sunshine, but cold temperatures will persist for a few more days.
Saturday evening and night: Partly cloudy. West wind 20 to 40 km/h. Low -23.
Sunday: Alternating sun and clouds. Wind from the west, 10 to 30 km/h. High -22.
Monday: Sunny. Wind from the northwest, 30 to 50 km/h. High -21.
Tuesday: Sunny. Wind from the northwest, 20 to 40 km/h. High -16.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine weather forecast.
