North Columbia

Terrain management is still your best approach at avoiding the persistent slab problem.

Over the weekend we received reports of small avalanches and sluffing in the 10 to 20 cm of recent snow.

The latest report of persistent slab activity was from Friday, when several naturally triggered avalanches occurred on north aspects at alpine elevations.

A cooling trend with some precipitation may decrease the likelihood of humans triggering buried weak layers, but the consequence of being caught in such an avalanche would be catastrophic.

Around 10 to 20 cm of settled soft snow exists on shaded alpine slopes. Sun-exposed slopes and all aspects below 1800 m have a hard surface melt-freeze crust.

Two layers of surface hoar on shaded slopes and a crust on sun-exposed slopes may be found in the top metre of the snowpack.

A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried about 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a weak layer of facets above it that are slowly strengthening.

The remainder of the snowpack is settled.

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
• Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
• When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.