Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Glacier.
Weather Forecast
The warming trend that started yesterday will continue over the weekend, when a strong ridge is expected to develop. Flurries will taper off today and we may see some sunny breaks. Alpine temps of -3'C and light but gusty SW winds are expected. Fri will be similar. On Sat things heat up with alpine temps to +3'C and freezing levels rise to 2800m.
Snowpack Summary
Nearly 50cm of snow has fallen in the past 4 days. On southerly aspects, NE winds yesterday will have reverse loaded lees creating deeper pockets of soft slab. In exposed alpine areas and a ridge crest it will have buried old windslabs. The Jan 2 freezing rain crust is down ~90cm. The Nov 21st interface is now 1-2m in deep.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday, 4 size 2.5 and one size 3 natural avalanches were observed from steep slopes. In the region, skiers reported triggering storm slabs. On Wed, skiers accidentally triggered a size 3.5 as they approached Camp West. The crown was 40cm deep where triggered and up to 1.5m deep. Width of the crown was well over 100m and ran over a kilometer!
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Persistent Slabs
Aspects: South East, South, South West, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 2.5 - 3.5