Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Nov 27th, 2022 4:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Storm Slabs.

Avalanche Canada istorm, Avalanche Canada

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Because of the thin, soft, early season snowpack the best riding will also be where avalanches are most likely. My suggestion is to keep slope angles moderate and sheltered from the wind.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Limited reporting from the field; no new avalanche reports on Saturday, This one from Friday is worth looking at. The location and size strike me as 'representative'. My concern is that with the facetted snowpack things could scrub to ground (deeper crown = bigger avalanche). Big shout out to J.Majorossy!

Snowpack Summary

Upper Snowpack: This weekend's storm generally added 10 to 20 cm to the snowpack with the deep snow holes touching 30 cm.

Lower Snowpack: It's a thin cold early season story of mostly soft facets (in representative places that are out of the wind near treeline)

Noteworthy Weakness: A surface hoar/sun crust combination from mid-November releasing easily and propagating in snowpack tests.

In the alpine, snowpack depths range from 50-150 cm. At treeline there is around 50-100 cm. Below treeline is thin and scratchy. At all elevations there are many early season hazards like rocks and stumps.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Clearing and cooling after teh weekend storm. Temps -10 to -15 C. Dry, Light west wind.

Monday

No Precip. Temps -10 to -15 C. Light northerly wind. Mix of sun and cloud.

Tuesday

Very similar to Monday

Wednesday

Light disturbance with overcast sky, light south west wind, trace to 10 cm of snow, and warming to around -5 to -10 C

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 30 cm of new snow.
  • Start on smaller terrain features and gather information before committing to bigger terrain.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.

Problems

Storm Slabs

An icon showing Storm Slabs

Thin early season snow depths mean you'll be searching for deeper areas to ride; that'll take you to where storm slabs are most likely. Selecting moderate (less steep) slopes will help manage both early season hazards (like knee and A-arm wrecking rocks) and avalanche hazards. Less windy areas will be the sweet spot for both best riding quality and avoiding avalanche issues.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1.5 - 2.5

Valid until: Nov 28th, 2022 4:00PM

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