Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 18th, 2024 1:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
Mikey,
Avalanche Canada
Lots of good skiing out there, especially in sheltered areas. Be on the lookout for wind slabs growing with Friday's strong winds.
Summary
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed today.
Snowpack Summary
5-8cm of recent snow is overlying the weak facetted snow from last week as well as wind slabs in alpine terrain up to 30cm thick along ridgelines and in gullied features. The forecasters skied in the Black Prince area today and found good skiing but the snow had a bit of a stiffer feel to it. The Dec 5th crust can be found in the bottom third of the snowpack and exists up to 2350m with weak facets and depth hoar below this layer. Thin areas are places a skier may be able to trigger a failure in these basal facets that can propagate across a feature. Be cautious travelling below tree line as the snowpack is shallower and logs and tree stumps are lurking just under the surface.
Weather Summary
Temperatures are on the rise......
Friday: Your ski day will start on the coolish side of -21c and is suppose to warm up to a balmy -8c. This warming trend will start around noon and bring strong westerly winds, and light flurries.
Saturday and Sunday: Light flurries and highs of -2c both days.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
- Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Friday's strong westerly winds might impact the alpine and possibly increase the hazard. Wind slabs exist in Alpine and Treeline, especially in lee and cross-loaded terrain.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
This problem will be with us all season. At higher elevations, there is more concern that these deep persistent weak layers could be triggered by skiers or riders.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 19th, 2024 4:00PM
