Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear with some cloudy periods. Alpine temperatures near -20C. Ridgetop winds moderate from the northeast.SUNDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures near -14C. Ridgetop winds light with moderate gusts from the west-southwest.MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures near -19C. Ridgetop winds light gusting moderate from the northeast.TUESDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and isolated flurries, trace accumulation. Alpine temperature near -20C. Ridgetop winds light with moderate gusts from the northeast.

Pockets of wind slab were reactive to skier traffic early in the week through Wednesday, when a few natural small wind slabs up to size 1 were reported in the northern part of the region. Most recently, loose dry sloughing snow was reported from steep, rocky features near ridge crest.

Significant recent winds have redistributed the 15-30 cm of recent snow in the alpine and treeline, producing a variety of wind affected surfaces including hard/soft wind slabs, sastrugi, and isolated and protected pockets of soft faceted snow. Expect wind affect to extend to all elevations including a surface wind skin at lower elevations.Due to scouring and wind-loading, anywhere from 0-60 cm recent snow sits on a crust on all but northerly alpine aspects. Wind pressed surfaces and a mixture of weak feathery surface hoar and/or sugary facets in sheltered terrain are found at treeline and below. Current cold temperatures are promoting surface faceting and are breaking down the buried crust.Below the recent wind affect snow and crust, another crust is found down 50-80 cm that formed mid-January right to mountain top on southerly aspects and on all aspects below 1700 m. Additionally at this depth, feathery surface hoar may be found in shady sheltered areas at treeline. This surface hoar layer is reported to be most prevalent in the far southeast of the region near Manning Park but is unreactive at this time.The remainder of the snowpack is generally well-settled.