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Avalanche Forecast

Jan 2nd, 2024–Jan 3rd, 2024
Alpine
2: Moderate
The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be moderate
Treeline
1: Low
The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be low
Below Treeline
1: Low
The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be low
Alpine
2: Moderate
The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be moderate
Treeline
1: Low
The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be low
Below Treeline
1: Low
The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be low
Alpine
3: Considerable
The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be considerable
Treeline
2: Moderate
The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be moderate
Below Treeline
1: Low
The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be low

Regions: Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Jordan, North Columbia, North Okanagan, Shuswap, South Columbia, Whatshan.

Avoid shallow rocky areas where you may trigger buried weak layers.

Manage your sluffing around terrain traps as recent snow will not have bonded well to the existing snowpack.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

There have been no new avalanches since the weekend.

  • Small (size 1) loose dry avalanches have been easily triggered by ski cuts in the new snow on Sunday.

  • Explosive control work near Revelstoke on Saturday produced cornice and near-surface slab avalanches, size 1.5 to 2.5.

Snowpack Summary

Our most recent snow, 5 to 10 cm in most areas and up to 20 cm in the west Monashees may be poorly bonding to old surfaces. These include crusts, surface hoar, and facets.

The mid snowpack contains a couple of layers of note; a hard crust formed by an early December rain event around 60 cm deep and a layer of surface hoar 60 to 100 cm deep. Where it exists, the crust may shield underlying weak layers (buried surface hoar) protecting them from human triggering. Where the crust is not prominent, this buried surface hoar is a major concern.

The lower snowpack is variable throughout the region; in shallower snowpack areas, basal facets may exist. To learn more, check out our blog.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with clear periods, trace accumulation, ridgetop winds south, 10 to 20 km/h, freezing level at 1000 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy, trace to 5 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds southwest 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -4 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy, 2 to 5 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds southwest 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -5 °C.

Friday

Cloudy, 8 to 14 cm accumulation mostly arriving overnight, ridgetop winds west 15 to 25 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.

Avalanche Problems

Persistent Slabs

A layer of surface hoar is buried 60 to 100 cm deep. This layer may be triggerable by riders at upper elevations where it is not bridged by a thick overlying crust.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood: Possible

Expected Size: 1.5 - 3