Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Glacier.
Good skiing can be found throughout the park.
Do keep an eye out for stiffer snow in wind affected areas, indicating a slab that might need a little more time to bond with the underlying facets.
Weather Forecast
Cool with clouds, then moving into another stormy period Thurs/Fri
Tonight: Cloudy, low -16*C, light SW winds
Wed: Mix of sun/cloud, Alp high -15*C, light SW winds
Thurs: Snow, 15cm, Alp high -10*C, mod S winds
Fri: Flurries, 10cm, Alp high -9*C, mod/gusting strong SW winds
Snowpack Summary
~30cm of new snow has been moved by moderate S'ly winds, creating a storm/wind slab that is slowly bonding to the faceted snow from the recent cold temps. Wind slab exists in the alpine along ridge crests and open features down into tree line. The Dec 1 crust is buried 80-130cm, with faceted snow above and below it (especially in shallow areas).
Avalanche Summary
Several avalanches to sz 3 were observed in the steep paths of Macdonald and Tupper, related to wind spikes and the rapid redistribution of available snow early Tues morning. No observations of avalanches stepping down to deeper layers.
Frequent flyer produced a sz 2.5 natural avalanche Mon pm.
Confidence
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
A storm slab, ~25-35cm deep, sits atop a faceted interface, which is slowly bonding. Deeper pockets of slab are found in loaded features. If triggered this layer may step down to the Dec 1 crust, resulting in a large avalanche.
- Watch for signs of instability such as whumpfing, or cracking.
- If triggered the storm slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 3