A change in the weather pattern means the deep freeze is ending! Storms will bring snow and wind to Roger's Pass, creating a fresh stormslab.
The temperatures are still forecast to be chilly, ensure you have emergency clothing layers and a good time buffer to be back at the car before dark
Fresh snow with wind has created a new storm slab problem. North winds and valley bottom gap winds have created slabs in non-typical places, heads up! Expect the new slab to be most reactive on south and west aspects where buried crusts exist.
Natural activity during the cold snap has been limited to loose/dry and wind slabs in Rogers Pass.
Yesterday there was a skier triggered avalanche on Cheops on a steep west aspect. This was a windslab on top of a crust and ran for approximately 200m.
Bruins Ridge saw a sz 2 wind slab fail on a SW aspect, most likely on the underlying suncrust.
Several thin sz 1-2 hard slabs were observed on Christiana Ridge and Fidelity Mtn.
*All noted avalanches failed on a suncrust.
Moderate winds (S/SW switching to N/NE) have redistributed 40-50cms of snow into variable soft to hard surface slabs. These sit upon a sun crust on solar aspects, firm wind effect in the alpine, and soft facetted snow on sheltered N aspects.
Below 2100m there is a crust down 70-80cm (from Dec 5th/6th).
The Dec 1 surface hoar layer is down 90-120cm and is decomposing. However, it is still reactive in isolated snowpack tests.
The Arctic air will be pushed out by a series of storms. We'll see modest snowfall amounts but thankfully temperatures will warm up abit!
Tonight: flurries amounting to 4cm, Alp low -15°C, light south winds.
Wed: Flurries (6 cm), Alp high -15°C, light E wind.
Thurs: mix of sun/cloud/flurries, trace snow, Alp high -13°C, wind: SE 20km/hr.
Friday: Flurries(9cms), trace amount of snow, Alp high -7°C, light ridge wind.
