Avalanche Forecast

THURSDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies, light wind from the north, treeline temperatures drop to -8 C.

FRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind from the north, treeline temperatures around -5 C.

SATURDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind from the northwest, treeline temperatures around -8 C.

SUNDAY: Mostly sunny, light wind from the northwest, treeline temperatures around -5 C.

Observations have been limited over the past week, but there have been enough reports to suggest a storm slab avalanche cycle occurred during the stormy weather at the start of the week. Since then, a few small (size 1) slab avalanches in the top 25 cm of snow have been triggered by ski cutting and there have been some small dry loose avalanches.

Recent storm snow has likely settled into 10 to 30 cm of heavy powder at upper elevations and moist/crusty snow below 1500 m. It sits above a variety of hard layers, including wind-affected snow on alpine slopes and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, and possibly some feathery surface hoar in sheltered terrain. The lower snowpack is generally well settled, with prominent crust layers 50 to 100 cm deep. While there have been some snowpack test results on weak snow around these crusts in the Blue River and Valemount areas, we do not expect avalanches on these layers under the current conditions.

• If you are increasing your exposure to avalanche terrain, do it gradually as you gather information.
• Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
• Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.