Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Natural avalanche activity has tapered but wind slabs continue to be reactive to human triggering. Pay attention overhead hazards like cornices, especially when the sun is out.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
Thursday: Mostly sunny with alpine temperatures near -11 and freezing levels 500 m. Ridgetop winds light from the North.Friday: Overcast with new snow amounts 5-10 cm. Alpine temperatures near -12 and ridgetop winds gusty from the southwest. Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud with possible snow up to 5 cm. Alpine temperatures near -8 with light to moderate winds from the northwest.
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, several size 1 slab avalanches were reactive to skier triggers. Most of these failed on southerly aspects where the recent storm snow sits 20-30 cm above a melt freeze crust. Convex rolls and steeper terrain features which have wind effect are also reactive to human triggers. You will likely encounter sluffing in steeper terrain features.
Snowpack Summary
Highly variable surface snow exist showing stiff wind slab, wind press, sun crust on steep solar, surface facets and new surface hoar development in sheltered areas at teeline and below. Previous strong and gusty wind from various directions (primarily northeast) has scoured some exposed slopes and formed fresh wind slabs on others. Sheltered terrain, especially in the trees has 30-50 cm of low density snow from last weekend's storm. A crust layer can be found beneath the storm snow on sun-exposed slopes and below 1800 m.Weak layers that formed in January and December are gradually gaining strength. The layers include several surface hoar and facet layers buried 1-2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack. No avalanches have been reported on these layers for the past 10 days and snowpack tests are showing improved bonding. Despite these signs, avalanche professionals are still treating these layers with respect and being cautious around shallow start zones and big avalanche paths.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.