There has been lots of wind combined with small amounts of new snow in the last week.
Watch out for reactive windslabs in steep alpine terrain.
Monitor local weather conditions at Avalanche Canada's website.
There is enough snow in wind-loaded alpine and high treeline features to create avalanches, and human triggering is possible. While we expect these slides to be limited in size, getting avalanched in a shallow snowpack can easily result in an injury, so use caution in steep terrain.
No new avalanches observed or reported on Tuesday. On Saturday, test firing of Mt Bosworth's remote avalanche control system (Gaz-Ex) produced two size 1.5 windslabs, both located on a South aspect at 2300m.
5–10 cm of new snow over the last 3 days has been redistributed by strong to extreme winds into wind slabs in lee areas, especially in the alpine. Height of snow is 80-100cm in the alpine, 30–60 cm at treeline, and it tapers quickly below treeline. Early reports suggest that while the snowpack is generally thin, it supports the weight of a skier.
A slight reprieve from the windy conditions of the last few days on Wednesday with dry conditions and only moderate upper level SW winds. On Thursday, the winds start to pick up again into the strong to extreme range from the SW as a warm storm approaches from the coast. Expect 15-30 cm overnight Thursday and Friday with 2000-2500m freezing levels.
Western Canada weather maps
