Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 7th, 2017 3:54PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Loose Wet.

pgoddard, Avalanche Canada

North Columbia.

Seek the shade for the best and safest riding.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

FRIDAY: Sunny and warm above valley cloud. Light wind. Freezing level near 3000 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.SATURDAY: Sunny and warm above valley cloud. Light wind. Freezing level near 2700 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.SUNDAY: Cloudy. Moderate south-west winds. Freezing level near 2600 m. More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, only minor sluffing was reported. On Tuesday, explosive avalanche control in the Monashees produced a few size 1.5 slabs running on the November crust on northwest-facing slopes at treeline. A large size 3 natural avalanche was reported on a steep north-facing alpine face in the Selkirks. The failure layer is unknown, but it was likely an early season crust.

Snowpack Summary

Intense warming will melt and weaken upper snowpack layers, particularly on steep sunny slopes. Warming also has the potential to wake up more deeply buried crust layers which formed in November and October. On the whole, these crusts have been showing reasonable bonding in snowpack and slope tests. There has been the odd isolated exception, and a cautious approach is a good idea while temperatures are skyrocketing. Below treeline, the snowpack is shallow--look out for early season hazards like open creeks and tree stumps.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose wet avalanches are likely in steep, rocky, sunny terrain. Warming could also wake up more deeply buried weak layers, creating a surprisingly large avalanche.

Minimize exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where small avalanches may have severe consequences.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: All elevations.

Likelihood

Very Likely

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Dec 8th, 2017 2:00PM