Challenging traveling conditions will exist at treeline and below. If you find a thin and/or breakable crust at upper elevations, human-triggering remains possible.
Lingering wind slabs may remain reactive to human triggering above 2000 m where the surface crust is thin/breakable or absent. There is a potential for wide propagation as slabs may rest on surface hoar and/or crust.
On Friday, numerous cornice falls were reported due to intense alpine warming. Small loose wet avalanches were also observed on steep terrain at all elevations. The latest reports of skier-triggered avalanches date back to Thursday, when wind slabs were triggered in convex lee slopes at treeline north of Pemberton. They mostly ran on the concerning surface hoar layer or a buried crust down 30 to 50 cm.
Up to 5 cm of new snow may sit over a recent melt-freeze crust up to 2000 m. Underneath, 30 and 65 cm of recent storm snow and heavily wind-affected snow overlies a thick crust and, in some sheltered areas, surface hoar. This layer has bonded poorly in neighbouring regions to the west and south, and in parts of this region could result in large avalanches. Overall, the snow depth remains shallow, with average treeline snowpack depths between 80 and 120 cm.
Saturday Night
Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulation, alpine wind southwest 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature around 0 °C, freezing level at 1300 m.
Sunday
Mix of sun and clouds, no precipitation, alpine wind west 20 km/h, treeline temperature around -3 °C, freezing level around 1200 m.
Monday
Mix of sun and clouds, no precipitation, alpine wind southwest 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature around -4 °C, freezing level at valley bottom.
Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds, no precipitation, alpine wind southwest 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature around -4 °C, freezing level at valley bottom.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
