Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

No new natural avalanche obs. along the highway corridor on Friday/Sat.

Riders reported triggering small wind slabs, up to size 1.5, in steep north facing terrain off Cheops Mtn. in Connaught creek on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, isolated natural slab avalanches sized, 2, 2.5 and 3 were observed in from steep, alpine start zones on N and SE aspects.

Expect loose sluffing in steep and unsupported terrain.

Spring convective flurries have added 10-30 cm of storm snow, which has been redistributed by wind in the alpine. Surface snow turns moist below 1700 m.

Below the storm snow is a thick crust on all aspects below 1700m and widespread on solar facing terrain.

A weak layer formed on March 9th is down ~30 cm and the Feb 3rd persistent weak layer is down 80-140 cm deep, both these layers are currently unreactive. The mid and lower snowpack are well settled and strong.

A clearing trend will continue through the weekend and into next week, with a warm up starting Monday.

Tonight: Cloudy w/ clear periods, Alpine temp: Low -8 °C, Moderate N winds, Freezing Level(FZL) valley bottom

Sun: Sun/Cloud, Alpine high -3 °C, Light NW winds, FZL 1800m

Mon: Sun/Cloud. Alp high 1°C, Mod W winds, FZL 2400m

Tues: Sun/Cloud w/ isolated showers! Alp high 3 °C, Mod SW winds gusting to 60km/hr, FZL 2800m

• Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.
• Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet
• Remember that the snowpack will be significantly different at higher elevations than lower down.