Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainties in both the snowpack structure and the weather forecast limit our confidence.

Thursday night: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm. Alpine temperature -6 C, southwest wind 10-20, gusting to 40 km/hr.

Friday: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 10 cm. Alpine temperature -2 C, south-southwest wind 15-30 km/h.

Saturday: Scattered flurries, 5-15 cm. Alpine temperature -6, southwest wind 15-25 km/hr.

Sunday: Cloudy with sunny breaks. Alpine temperature -10, north wind 15-25km/hr.

Explosives triggered a size 2 storm slab avalanche and several size 1-1.5 wind slab avalanches on Wednesday, mostly on northerly alpine features. 

10-25 cm of new snow accumulated in the north early this week with smaller amounts around Panorama and south. Westerly winds have redistributed new snow into lee features and cross-loaded terrain. The new snow has covered surface hoar in sheltered areas and various wind-affected surfaces elsewhere.

Prior to the new snow, cold temperatures faceted the upper snowpack, a layer of 15-40 cm of wind-affected snow. This old, wind-affected snow sits over a crust on solar aspects in the alpine and a surface hoar/crust combination around treeline. This layer, down 25-45 cm, may only be found in the northern areas of the region, or areas with a relatively deeper snowpack.

Further down, several early season crusts are found in a highly variable snowpack across the region, with depths ranging from 10-110 cm. These crusts have begun faceting out and the base of the snowpack consists of facets and depth hoar. Expect to find weak facets (sugary, cohesion-less snow) in thin, shallow areas, around rocks, and at the bottom of the snowpack.