Continued wind and a bit of new snow on Saturday/ Sunday will keep windslabs a concern. Good riding can be found in sheltered areas at treeline and below.
25cm of storm snow fell near Cameron Lake on Fri Jan 27 (up to 50cm in the townsite). Strong to extreme SW alpine winds have created wind effect and windslabs in the alpine and at treeline. Up to 15 cm more snow on Saturday/ Sunday with continued strong winds may make these slabs more reactive.
A field team in the Cameron Lake area on Feb. 2nd observed several recent size 1 loose dry and wind slab avalanches on their drive in on the Akamina Parkway. These were generally at treeline on easterly apects. They also observed a size 1.5-2 on the CV-10 path above the Cameron Lake road which occurred during their trip on Feb. 2nd. This could have been triggered by a cornice failure, solar warming or windloading.
Strong to extreme southwest winds have redistributed last weeks storm snow (20cm near the Divide and 40-50cm in the Eastern park) into wind slabs at treeline and above. Below treeline the snow is generally not wind affected. This new snow overlies old wind slabs or the mid-January crust that exists to 2400m. The mid-pack is well settled and overlies basal facets and depth hoar, especially in thin areas.
A strong SW flow over the next few days means continued extreme alpine winds. Freezing levels will rise to ~ 13-1500m daily.
Friday: Alpine winds ~ 110 km/h from the SW. Clear skies with light precip starting in the afternoon.
Saturday: Alpine winds decreasing to ~ 70 km/h from the W. Light snow with 5- 10 cm possible.
Sunday: Alpine winds decreasing to ~ 50 km/h from the W. Light snow up to 5 cm.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
