Avalanche Forecast

High -

Friday night: Partly cloudy. Light southwest winds, strong above 2500 m. Alpine temperatures around -2. Freezing levels dropping to 1000 m in the north and holding at 2000 m in the south.

Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud with cloud increasing. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around 0. Freezing levels to 2100 m.

Sunday: 5-15 cm new snow arriving overnight in the north and during the day in the south. Light southwest wind shifting northwest over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -5. Freezing level 1600 m.

Monday: Sunny. Light to moderate west wind. Alpine high temperatures around -2. Freezing level 2000 m.

On Wednesday and Thursday, natural and skier triggered loose wet avalanches were reported on solar aspects size 1-2.5. 

Sporadic slab avalanches around size 2 have also been observed running on one or more of our recent curst layers. On Wednesday a larger (size 2), 45 cm-deep slab was triggered by a snowcat push in the Selkirks and is suspected to have failed on a surface hoar layer from late March.

Surface crusts exist on solar aspects and below about 2000 metres. Above this elevation, 20-50 cm of recent snow in the Selkirk mountains and 10-20 in the Monashees has otherwise seen some redistribution by southwest to northwest wind, and seems to be bonding well with underlying surfaces.

At alpine and treeline elevations, a few layers of note are buried 50-100 cm deep including a layer of small surface hoar crystals on shady, wind-sheltered aspects and a series of crusts on solar aspects and below 1800 m. Overall the snow seems to be bonding well to these interfaces, although there have been a few isolated avalanches running on deeper crust layers in the past week.

• Small avalanches can have serious consequences in extreme terrain. Carefully evaluate your line for wind slab hazard before you commit to it.
• Extra caution is needed around cornices under the current conditions.
• Avoid steep slopes when air temperatures are warm, or solar radiation is strong.
• A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.