A mix of old and new wind slabs in exposed terrain means some may now be quite stubborn while others remain sensitive to human triggering.
Pair your wind slab avoidance with line choices where there is a thick, consistent snowpack and you'll be managing the problematic basal snowpack at the same time.
A mix of old and new wind slabs are scattered across upper elevations after days of constantly shifting winds. Older slabs may now be quite stubborn but more recent slabs are likely still reactive to human triggering.
Faceted grains make up the basal snowpack and are gaining strength very slowly. This layer has been relatively quiet recently but can still be triggered with a heavier load, like a cornice fall for example, and in areas with a thinner snowpack. Any avalanche triggered this deep will likely be large and destructive.
Ski cutting in the Fernie area on Monday yielded numerous small (size 1) wind slab releases. This problem affects all aspects and the most recent slab formations will likely remain reactive to human triggering through Wednesday at least.
Sunday saw a cornice fail naturally but it did not trigger buried weak layers in this instance. Even so, it's a great reminder to be mindful and to practice avoidance of overhead hazards.
Although they have not produced avalanches in the last few days, a deep persistent slab problem still affects the region and should steer you away from thin or variable depth snowpack locations and shallow rocky start zones throughout the region.
Surfaces in exposed areas are becoming heavily wind-affected above 1800 to 2000 m by winds from variable directions. Wind slabs have been continuously forming and gradually stabilizing on a range of aspects as a result of this pattern. Below this elevation, 10-20 cm of recent snow has settled on a melt-freeze crust that developed earlier this month.
A crust/facet layer, 2 to 15 cm thick at treeline is 50 to 90 cm below the surface. Where it's thickest, it caps the settled and consolidated mid-snowpack.
Another crust/facet layer is down 70 to 150 cm. Below this crust, the basal snowpack is weak and faceted. The total snowpack depth ranges between 120 and 250 cm.
Tuesday night
Tues Night: Increasing cloud throughout night, nil precipitation, winds light from the Southwest, treeline temps around -5 C.
Wednesday
Cloudy in AM decreasing throughout day, trace precipitation, winds light from the Southwest, treeline temps around -4 C.
Thursday
A mix of sun and cloud, nil precipitation, winds light from the Southwest, treeline temps around -6 C.
Friday
Partly cloudy, trace precipitation, winds light and variable throughout day, treeline temps around -4 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
