Wind slabs at upper elevations, and persistent slabs at lower elevations remain a concern as they can be triggered by humans. A cautious approach to backcountry travel is recommended.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
MONDAY NIGHT - cloudy with clear periods / northwest winds 10-20 km/h / alpine low temperature near -15TUESDAY - Mainly cloudy with flurries, 2-4 cm / southwest winds 10-25 km/h / alpine high temperature near -10WEDNESDAY - A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries / northeast winds 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near -10THURSDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / southeast winds, 10-15 km/h / alpine high temperature near -12
Avalanche Summary
Numerous natural and human triggered avalanches up to size 2 were reported on Sunday. There were also two reports of persistent slab avalanches, one triggered by explosives and one occurred naturally. These were size 3 and 2.5 respectively and both occurred in the alpine on south and west aspects.Several notable skier triggered avalanches were reported on Saturday. These included size 1-2 storm slab, wind slab, and persistent slab avalanches on all aspects at treeline elevations. Some were old buried wind slabs while others were new snow reacting above recently buried weak layers and crusts. Natural loose dry avalanches were also observed in steep terrain.On Friday, several size 1 slab avalanches were triggered, predominately on northeast aspects. In the south part of the region, numerous size 1-2 wind slab, storm slab, and persistent slab avalanches were reported every day between Tuesday and Friday
(see this MIN report for examples).
Snowpack Summary
Recent northerly winds have formed wind deposits in lee areas, while sun crusts may have formed on south-facing slopes. 15 to 40 cm of low density snow has fallen since Tuesday, with greater amounts in the south of the region. This snow is sitting on a surface hoar (feathery crystals) and crust layer that was buried on February 7th and could eventually develop into a problem layer.Two additional weak layers of surface hoar have produced large avalanches in the region over the past month. A layer buried at the end of January is around 40 cm deep and a layer buried mid-January is between 50 and 90 cm deep. The mid-January layer may also be associated with a crust on southerly aspects. These layers are most prominent at treeline and below.The remainder of the snowpack is considered generally strong. However, there have been sporadic reports of very large avalanches that have released near the base of the snowpack. Most of these avalanches have been in the high alpine. There has been about one report a week for the past month.
kdevine,
Avalanche Canada
