Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 28th, 2014 3:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Avalanche Canada pgoddard, Avalanche Canada

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Sea To Sky.

Good weather for backcountry travel, but stay alert to variable avalanche conditions.

Summary

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Cold and dry with light to moderate N-NE outflow winds. A temperature inversion may form on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Avalanche Summary

On Friday a few size 1-1.5 wind slabs failed in steep terrain. On Wednesday, a snowboarder triggered a size 2-2.5 slab on a north aspect at 1900 m in the Callahan area. The crown was 10cm-100cm deep. The slab is believed to have failed on a crust. The snowboarder was buried, but was recovered safely by companion rescue.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm recent snow is expected to be shifted into wind slabs on lee terrain features. The recent snow overlies variable surfaces including large surface hoar crystals, old wind slabs and wind-scoured surfaces. A deeper layer of surface hoar buried in mid-December (now down 40-70cm) has been gradually gaining strength, but may still be a concern in some areas. The mid and lower snowpack contain several old crust layers, one of which may have been the failure layer for a recent burial (see avalanche summary).

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs
Recent winds have built wind slabs on slopes facing roughly east. As winds swing around to come from the north or east, new wind slabs could develop on a variety of slopes.
Travel on ridgetops to avoid wind slabs on slopes below.>Avoid open slopes and convex rolls at and below treeline where buried surface hoar may be preserved.>Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Dec 29th, 2014 2:00PM

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