The eastern and southern slopes appear to be well loaded with snow, but the risk of triggering wind slabs remains uncertain.
The formation of new wind slabs seems to have eased, but low temperatures are delaying the stabilization of the snowpack. Hard wind slabs are more difficult to trigger, but they will propagate if triggered. They rest on fragile layers that proved reactive in our tests.
No new avalanches reported or observed
If you head into the backcountry, thanks for sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
At treeline and in the alpine, surface snow is strongly affected by wind, resulting in great variability in its distribution and density. There is considerably more snow in the northern part of the forecast area (Mines versus Lyall).
The average snow depth at treeline varies between 90 and 120 cm. Within this snowpack, we find a few weak layers:
A thin layer of frost at a depth of around 20 cm.
A layer of facetted grains approximately 40 cm deep.
Melt-freeze crusts at 60 cm and 80 cm.
WEATHER FOR THE CHIC-CHOCS RIDGES AND SUMMITS
Temperatures will warm up slowly over the next few days.
Thursday evening and night: Mostly cloudy. Wind west, 20 to 40 km/h. Low -18.
Friday: Alternating sun and cloud. Wind west, 25 to 50 km/h. High -14.
Saturday: Sunny. Wind west, 20 to 40 km/h. High -12.
Sunday: Alternating sun and clouds. Wind southwest, 20 to 40 km/h. High -10.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine weather forecast.
