Avalanche Forecast

High -

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with moderate westerly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures near -3 and freezing levels rising to 800 m.Friday: Cloudy with isolated flurries and gusty northwest ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures high of -1 and freezing levels 1000 m. Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud with light to moderate westerly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures high of +1 and freezing levels rising to 2500 m.

A few skier triggered wind slab and persistent slab avalanches up to size 1.5 were reported on Tuesday. Those avalanches were commonly found from 2000 m and above. At lower elevations (treeline and below) you will likely see widespread dry loose sluffing from steeper terrain features as the upper snow above the surface hoar/ crust interface is mostly unconsolidated. In areas where there is wind effect or more cohesion in the upper snowpack, you can expect it to be a more reactive slab over the weak interface.Check out this MIN report for a great overview of conditions including photos.

20-35 cm of snow sits above a layer of large feathery surface hoar crystals and sun crust. In areas that have had wind effect the recent snow has been settling into a thin but reactive slab above this weak layer, with enhanced reactivity noted at elevations between 1500-1800 metres where the surface hoar is particularly well developed on all aspects. In sheltered areas the snow is faceting, low density and lacks cohesion above this layer which is only reactive as dry loose sluffing. Forecast warmer temperatures will likely change this and promote increased slab properties this weekend.Strong winds associated with the new snow formed reactive wind slabs on leeward slopes and scoured southerly aspects down to the crust at upper elevations. The middle and lower portions of the snowpack are generally well-settled and strong.