Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1–2
Recent winds have varied in direction, so be cautious of wind-loaded pockets on all aspects.
Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
Very large human-triggered avalanches are possible.
Recent winds have varied in direction, so be cautious of wind-loaded pockets on all aspects.
Cornices are large, looming, and may trigger large persistent slabs on slopes below.
Persistent weak layers of crusts/facets or surface hoar in the top 200 cm of the snowpack may be possible to trigger.
This is a low-probability, high-consequence problem.
Over this week, a few natural, cornice-triggered, and skier-triggered wind slabs up to size 2 were reported. A few natural cornice failures occurred, but did not pull slabs on the slopes below.
In the neighbouring region, a fatal avalanche accident occurred north of Terrace on March 22. Available details can be found here.
Observations in this region are limited, and there's uncertainty about buried weak layers in the mid snowpack. Choose conservative terrain.
Cornices are large and looming. Avoid travelling underneath them.
Last week's 20 to 50 cm of storm snow has been redistributed by strong southwest shifting to northeast winds, creating wind slabs on a variety of aspects. This sits on a variety of old surfaces, including surface hoar, facets, crusts, and/or wind-scoured snow.
There are multiple persistent weak layers consisting of crust/facets or surface hoar in the top 200 cm of the snowpack. We have limited information on the distribution and reactivity of these layers.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy. 2 cm of snow. 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 cm of snow. 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 4 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.