Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Lizard-Flathead.
Continue to assess the wind effect as you gain elevation. Wind slab could be more sensitive to rider traffic where it overlies a crust.
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Thursday night: no new snow expected. Light to moderate west winds and a low of -14at 1600m.Â
Friday: cloudy with flurries in the evening bringing up to 5cm of new snow. Moderate west winds and a high of -3 at 1600m.
Saturday: stormy with up to 10cm of snow expected and moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing levels rising to 1600m.
Sunday: stormy with 15 to 20cm of snow and moderate southwest winds. Freezing levels around 1600m.
Avalanche Summary
No new slab avalanches were reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday a group of skiers remotely triggered a slab avalanche on an east aspect near ridgetop. We suspect it failed on the facets above the late February layer. Wind loading above this layer was a factor.
On Monday, ski cuts produced size 1 wind slab and loose dry avalanches. Explosive control work on steep shady treeline features produced no results.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm of lightly wind affected recent snow sits over a sun/temperature crust on solar aspects and below 1800 m.
Although we haven't seen recent activity on a couple of weak layers buried in January, they still appear in snowpack models and local operators continue to track them. These consist of a layer of surface hoar and a crust buried more than 1m deep in most places.
Terrain and Travel
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
- Small avalanches can have serious consequences in extreme terrain. Carefully evaluate your line for wind slab hazard before you commit to it.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
wind slab can be found in alpine and exposed treeline terrain. Sensitivity to triggering is greatest where wind slab has formed over a crust.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2