http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/links/goto_e.asp?destination=Widespread windslab susceptible to human triggering is the word of the day. Be prepared for cold temperatures!
Weather Forecast
Sunny with cloudy periods and an alpine high temperature of -14C along with light ridge wind from the NE. Monday calls for more of the same. Tuesday's forecast calls for light precipitation along with light SE winds and alpine high of -11C.
Snowpack Summary
Yesterday's Strong N through E winds have created widespread wind slabs, note reverse loading. Wind slabs sit atop a crust on steep solar aspects in the alpine. Cold temps are promoting near surface faceting. The storm snow has settled to ~50cm. The Jan 31 and Jan 17 interfaces (surface hoar and sun crust) are down ~50cm and ~70cm at tree line.
Avalanche Summary
Backcountry avalanches included Frequent Flyer Friday night, size 3 and reaching the creek. A size 2 slab reported at treeline between Cheops 6 and Balu Pass around mid day, a size 1.5 slab skier remote below Video Peak and a size 1.5 skier triggered slide on Hermit slide path. There were a dozen observed slides to size 3 in the highway corridor.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.