Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 12th, 2017 8:00AM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
Ian Gale,
Parks Canada
Thin slabs lurk in alpine and tree-line lee features. Use caution when rolling into your proposed line.
Summary
Weather Forecast
The Arctic ridge of high pressure will remain in place today keeping the weather cold and dry. Today expect a mix of sun and cloud and light Southwest winds at ridge-top. Alpine temperatures may(hopefully) reach -14*C. The Arctic ridge is expected to shift tomorrow which should allow warmer temps and some precip on the weekend and early next week.
Snowpack Summary
SW winds have created windslabs along exposed alpine ridges and cross-loaded features. These sit on a variety of old surfaces, from hard windslab to faceted soft snow in protected areas. The very cold temps and generally low snow have created a weak facetted snowpack. Field tests are producing mod-hard resistant planar results in the upper 60cm.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous loose and storm slab avalanches were observed Monday from Mt Macdonald and Mt Tupper on steep extreme terrain. This occurred during Monday's wind event and debris was observed to spread widely across the fans. A few natural size 1-1.5 slab avalanches, likely from Monday, were observed from steep N-facing terrain on Avalanche Crest.
Confidence
Problems
Wind Slabs
Stubborn windslabs are present on alpine features (ridge-crests, cross-loading gullies). These new slabs are variable in distribution so assess each slope independently. They will be most reactive on convex rolls and in unsupported terrain.
Watch for whumpfing, hollow sounds, and shooting cracks.Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 13th, 2017 8:00AM
