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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 6th, 2017–Dec 7th, 2017

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

North Columbia.

Seek the shade for the best riding and least sun-baked snow.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

THURSDAY: Sunny with valley cloud. Light wind. Freezing level near 3400 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.FRIDAY: Sunny with valley cloud. Light wind. Freezing level near 3000 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.SATURDAY: Sunny with valley cloud. Moderate south-west wind. Freezing level near 2600 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.More details can be found on the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, explosive avalanche control in the Monashees produced a few size 1.5 slabs running on the November crust on northwest-facing slopes at treeline. A large size 3 natural avalanche was reported on a steep north-facing alpine face in the Selkirks. The failure layer is unknown, but it was likely an early season crust. Some sluffing from steep sun-exposed slopes was also reported.

Snowpack Summary

Intense warming will melt and weaken upper snowpack layers, particularly on steep sunny slopes. Isolated wind slabs may be found behind ridges and ribs. Warming also has the potential to wake up more deeply buried crust layers which formed during November's rainfall. On the whole these crusts have been showing reasonable bonding in snowpack and slope tests. Below treeline, the snowpack is shallow--look out for early season hazards like open creeks and tree stumps.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.