Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Esplanade, Goat, Gold, Grohman, Jordan, North Columbia, North Monashee, North Okanagan, North Selkirk, Shuswap, South Columbia, Valhalla, Whatshan.
Use caution in wind-affected areas at higher elevations where new snow and wind have formed cohesive slabs that could be reactive to human triggering.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
On Monday, a size 1.5, skier-triggered wind slab avalanche was reported The avalanche occurred in a wind-loaded pocket at 2300m.
A MIN (see here) in a neighboring region a group bootpacking a couloir triggered size 3 avalanche on a south-facing slope at 2600 m. This large avalanche is evidence that where the crust doesn't exist or is thin, the persistent problem remains possible to human trigger and a concern.
Snowpack Summary
Roughly 10 to 30 cm of dry snow sits atop a widespread, hard crust. In general, the crust is strong and thick enough to be supportive to travel on.
In the mid and lower snowpack, various weak layers persist in areas, however, triggering any of these layers is unlikely given the supportive crust above.
Weather Summary
Tuesday Night
Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow throughout the region, up to 10 cm local to Revelstoke, 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop winds, treeline temperature -5 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, 10 to 20 km/h southerly ridgetop winds, treeline temperature -5 °C.
Thursday
Partly cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of snow, 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop winds, treeline temperature -7 °C.
Friday
A mix of sun and cloud with, 1 to 2 cm of snow, 10 to 30 km/h nort ridgetop winds, treeline temperature -9 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
- Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.
- When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
New snow continues to accumulate over a firm crust. Where winds have redistributed new snow look for signs of slab formation.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
Anywhere a supportive crust doesn't exist at or near the surface, weak layers deep in the snowpack could still be human-triggered.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3