Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 23rd, 2015 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Persistent Slabs.
grant statham,
Avalanche Canada
With Christmas just around the corner, it's obvious that everyone has been well behaved girls and boys, as Santa has delivered us The Green Brick (3 x Low for all three days) as a gift for the season. Enjoy the amazing backcountry conditions!
Summary
Weather Forecast
The awesome NW flow continues. This is a great upper level (5400m) flow because it's the pathway for carrying cold, moist storm systems into our mountains. However, despite this nicely aligned pathway, there is nothing coming down the pipe for a few days, and Xmas looks to be cold and stable with no new snow in the forecast until at least the 26th.
Snowpack Summary
A well settled snowpack with few weaknesses exists throughout the region with the upper 20 cm comprised of low density powder with no slab. The exception might be high elevation (above 3000m) leeward slopes. Below treeline the Dec 3 layer of surface hoar remains visible and produces hard, but planar test results. This weakness is strengthening.
Avalanche Summary
Today a natural cornice fall occurred in the upper left fork of the Emerald Lake Slide Path, running 400m down the ski line. The good news is that this large load didn't trigger a slab in the start zone below; the bad news is that it obliterated someone's uptrack. A good reminder of the residual risk that lingers even during periods of Low danger.
Confidence
Problems
Persistent Slabs
The slab above this layer has not been very reactive recently. Snow pack tests produce shears in the moderate to hard range. Dig down to identify and test this layer before committing to in steep, open or convex terrain below tree line.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 24th, 2015 4:00PM
