Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 13th, 2021 3:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
matt,
Avalanche Canada
Its hard to not talk about the cold these days. Keep trips short and carry extra emergency gear and warm clothing. If you can tolerate the cold, you'll be rewarded with good skiing and great views.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Have you ever seen the This Hour Has 22 Minutes skit about the forecast and there's always a carrot at the end(check it out if you haven't)? That's kind of what's happening now with this cold weather. Tonight will be another -30 night with a daytime high of -15. Beyond that its expected to gradually warm up...sure. Tomorrow will also have light winds that will sting a bit with the wind chill. No snow is expected.
Avalanche Summary
A few loose dry avalanches were noted today. Many of them travelled far and fast. So far they are limited to very steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Lots of surface faceting out there. The top 20cm is cold and grabby, but loose with few slab properties. A profile today had sub-surface temps that are still relatively warm, which means limited mid pack faceting. The Jan 29 interface is down about 50cm with a hint of faceting above it. You'll know it when you find it, it is very, very solid. Our profile had a few weaknesses show up, but generally it was well bonded and solid. So far the cold has spared our good snowpack on the west side of the road.
Terrain and Travel
- Pay attention to isolated alpine features as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.
- Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Lets think east side of the road vs west side of the road for a second. On the west side, windslabs are present at treeline and above. They are weak from the cold spell and will be more likely to trigger on steep convex rolls. Conversely, the east side of the road is much shallower and has a more sensitive and unpredictable feel to it. Choose supported terrain with no terrain traps.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 14th, 2021 3:00PM
